Kingdom Hearts Remake: Chain of Memories: RetCon Version
by nightelf37
Summary: This is a retcon version of my original Kingdom Hearts Remake: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts Remake: CoM: ReverseRebirth. I realized my 'canon' was straying away and decided to make this new story as some might still read the old one. This time, I'll be writing the two 'together' in a sense.
1. Chapter 18: Castle Oblivion

nightelf37: Finally! Here comes Kingdom Hearts Remake: Chain of Memories: Retcon Version. As usual, here's the disclaimer. Remember, the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there, or the manga, or the movie where the current world is based on (if there even is), I 'own' it. Yes, I'm also implementing the Chain of Memories manga in this story as well.

Oh, and here's 'my' Power Orb Inventory, although it will soon be irrelevant given the…setting.

(spells) Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Cure, Esuna, Regen, Aero, Gravity, Poison, Silence, Stop, Charm, Confuse, Protect, Shell, Dispel, Fira, Thundara, Blizzara, Cura, Blind, Immobilize, Sleep, Haste, Slow, Float, Mini, Petrify, Gravira, Aerora, Stopra, Firaga, Thundaga, Blizzaga, Curaga, Graviga, Aeroga, Stopga

(skills) Shield Boomer, Sky Dropper, Boomer Blast, Yoyo Shot, Aura Wave, Combo Shots, Taiyou, Solar Saber

(summons) Requiem

The other Summons are gone because after the worlds have been saved, they were returned to their worlds. Sora no longer has the Summon Gems for Simba, Dumbo, Bambi, Tinker Bell, and Mushu either. As for Genie, I'll find a way to explain Sora's no longer having his old Keychains…right now. Now let's begin…

_**Kingdom Hearts Remake: Chain of Memories: RetCon Version**_

Instead of starting at Chapter 17, because that's where we stopped at Kingdom Hearts Remake 1: RetCon Vesion, I'm gonna proceed with 18; the previous chapter 17 and 18 were too short for my tastes. If you haven't read **Kingdom Hearts Remake 1: RetCon Version**, do so first. I'm not gonna give call-backs just so this can be read without reading that.

Chapter 18: Castle Oblivion

I. Short "Recap"

_All hearts are one_

_One heart is all_

_In other words, the Kingdom's Heart_

_"Kingdom Hearts"_

_That is the great heart_

_And hidden within is great darkness._

_Many worlds existed, separately._

_Each of these worlds were locked, so that they could not mix with each other._

_The children wished to go to a world different from their own, after they encountered those not from their world._

_One day, the darkness appeared. And the world covered in darkness disappeared._

_And then, one boy was selected as a single hope. Three others, a girl and two other boys, were also selected to bolster that hope._

_The boy went around the worlds, fighting the darkness with his companions, locking the worlds as he went._

_In another place, his separated friend and one of the three selected to bolster the single hope was almost swallowed by the darkness, but they were able to fight it off._

_However, they lost their bodies, and their hearts went beyond the door. Their hearts wandered in the area between light and dark._

_Thanks to them winning against the darkness, the boy was able to lock the final door._

_His journey over, the boy was separated from his friend, and arrived at an unknown place, far from his home._

_The clue to finding his friend who had gone past the door had been found quickly, and had disappeared quickly._

_But he had his companions._

_And he had hope._

(This was taken from the manga, with details pertaining to 'me' and the others added.)

II. Another Adventure Awaits

It was late night. Somehow, we lost Pluto along the way. I wondered why he disappeared on us. He didn't even give us the letter he had in his mouth. We slept around a campfire near the road. Me. Florina. Yoris. Gregorio. Sora. Donald. Goofy.

Nearly everybody else was asleep, the only ones awake being Sora and me. The Key Bearer was looking at the thalassa shell charm Kairi had made and given to him. I on the other hand was fighting off the discomfort that came with sleeping on the grass, using my haversack as my pillow. I really wished for a sleeping bag.

"Can't sleep, Sora?" a voice came. I recognized it to be Jiminy Cricket, who was tasked in recording our entire journey. I also had a special diary that automatically did the same thing. "If you don't rest, you'll get sick."

"I could say the same thing for you," I heard Sora reply.

"I'm fine. I was just compiling the records of our travels. You know, the journal."

"Wow, you sure wrote a lot!"

"When we get back to the castle, I'll have to tell Queen Minnie everything that has happened. That's my job as a chronicler."

There was a moment of silence as I decided to just resort to resting my eyes. I heard Sora speak again. "Back on the island, the three of us were making a raft. We were going to leave the island, and see other worlds… Me. And Rioku. And Kairi. I never imagined it being like this. Fighting the Heartless with the Keyblade, being separated from my friends… Being thrown to another world… We traveled to many worlds, and made a lot of new friends. Donald and Goofy. And Jiminy. Ilsa. I guess Rael counts too."

I snorted a bit at this, seeing he had a point. I also didn't hear him mention Florina and the others, but they weren't quite 'new friends'.

"I wonder how it would've been if those two were with us too. I wonder what they're doing now…will I be able to get back… to my world?"

"Of course!" Jiminy answered. "What's that face for? You made a promise with your girl, right?"

"She's not—…!"

"Don't be embarrassed!"

There was some more silence. I assumed Sora was thinking about Kairi and his promise to her.

Jiminy continued, "Donald and Goofy think the same. They'll find the King, and go back to their own world someday. Sora, you will go back to your world, too. And so will everyone else. …well, why don't we turn in for tonight."

A few seconds later, I heard the rustling of grass. Looks like Sora lay down too. "Someday…" I heard him say. "We're gonna go home with Riku, too. Kairi…"

KHKHKHKHKH

_"There's the Catalyst. You know what to do."_

_"Right. The protection of his mind is paramount."_

_"Good. But do it quietly."_

_"What about his friends?"_

_"We're told not to disturb Sora or King Mickey's men, but the others are fair game. but first the Catalyst."_

_"All right. …Good thing he's not a light sleeper."_

_"Just hurry up. I sense something coming. Those rogues."_

_"Okay. Almost got it."_

_"Put in the Delta Device too. He'll need it to arrest those fugitives."_

_"On it. …Done. I'll get to the others."_

_"No time. One of them's about to wake up!"_

KHKHKHKHKH

I awoke with a start, having a feeling of something covering my head like a motorcycle helmet, but the feeling vanished just as quickly. A couple of thoughts also came to my head.

_My haversack contains not only some gadgets Gregorio pilfered from the Destiny, but also the rest of Sora's keychains. Gregorio used one of the gadgets to copy Jiminy's Journal "just in case anything happens" and has storied it in my bag._

Shaking off any remaining sleepiness, I looked around, saw the rest of my friends asleep, but then I saw Sora walking down a path. I got up and followed him, putting on the haversack. The two of us reached a crossroad of four paths and stared into the sky. All of a sudden, I heard a man's voice as the source and another appeared between Sora and me.

"Along the road ahead lies something you need."

The first figure was an individual in a black long-sleeved, hooded trenchcoat with a long, large silver zipper and two drawstrings hanging from the collar. Just like one of the unknown figures we fought back at Hollow Bastion.

The other one was someone in a pink skintight spandex suit with black accents. Their helmet was also pink, and the visor was shaped like a butterfly. They wore a cape that was similarly colored, they had a gold belt, and their leggings were white, which ended where the boots began, which were naturally pink as well. At the front of the suit was a Roman numeral 11, an "XI". I would've presumed that they were a girl, but something in their figure disturbingly told me otherwise.

Sora immediately turned around, only for them to suddenly disappear, and for him to see me. If he ever wondered why I was awake as well, he didn't indicated it as he pointed past me. I turned around and we saw the two figures there.

"However—in order to claim it you must lose something that is dear to you," came another voice, presumably from the other person. The two then turned around and vanished before our eyes.

"Wait, what?! Come back!" Sora said, looking around frantically.

"Behind you." We turned around and saw the pink-clad person standing right behind us. Before he disappeared, amidst my surprise, I was able to confirm that the spandex-wearing figure was a man, and it disturbed me greatly.

There was nothing we could do after that, and so we decided to return to sleep.

KHKHKHKHKH

I woke up blearily, the last thing I remember being a vision of a girl in a white room drawing on a sketchpad. I looked around to see I was the first to wake. I found that as weird somehow.

"Beans, beans, the magical fruit," I heard Gregorio mumble, still asleep. "The more you eat 'em the more you poot." I then heard and smelled the fart.

"Ugh. I'm pretty sure I didn't pack any beans in my haversack," I said to myself. _In fact, I don't think we packed much food. Only those paopus, and they have yet to go bad. Strange…_

After everybody packed up, and had a breakfast of paopus (we made sure not to share, wary of the legend and not wanting to end up doing something we would regret), we continued on our journey, eventually realizing that the meadow was getting thinner and thinner and the road was starting to get narrower.

"Hey, the roads getting narrower," noted Yoris.

"As we keep going? Yeah, I've noticed," said Sora.

Later, we came across a large castle situated on a strip of land in front of a cloudy background. It had a menacing look to it, with it's dark yellow/gold and blue outside and it's monstrous statues at the top of its towers.

"What a huge castle!" said Donald.

"A-hyuck, we really might find something in here!" agreed Goofy.

"Something I need, huh… Will I find it here?" wondered Sora.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Florina said as we slowly approached the entrance. Goofy found the knocker on the door, and used it. The door opened, and Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked inside. The rest of us followed reluctantly.

III. Awakening

Erstwhile…

Two figures floated in the empty void. Riku and Windelle.

"Where am I…" Riku wondered as he woke up. Windelle followed suit. They remembered being at the realm of darkness. But where were they **now**?

"Stay asleep," a voice came.

"Who's there?!" Windelle demanded.

"You should remain asleep. Here, between light and dark."

"Between…what?" He then realized something and gasped, "The king! Where's the king?! And Django! And Ilsa! Together we closed the door to darkness. After that—"

"You came drifting here by yourself," the voice answered. "You did not have the strength to overcome the darkness. Or…maybe you were close to it."

"Hmph. As if we're some kind of demon," scoffed Riku.

"As for the last one, it's the case with the former." A figure then appeared, floating in the void and asleep just like they were.

Windelle recognized the figure; the red fur, the huge build… "Ilsa!"

"Hmm. Turn from the light. Shut your eyes. Here blanketed by the darkness, sleep is safety. Sleep is eternal. But…"

A light shone and a card appeared near Riku, who averted his eyes from the light. "What's this?" he asked.

"It is a door to the truth." The card began to circle him and Windelle. "Take it and your sleep ends, as you take the first step toward the truth. But know this: the truth will bring you pain. Will you still go?" The card then stopped in front of the two. "There is no return to the security of sleep. Also, before you decide hastily, let me tell you that your friend here will also be a part of this burden. Will your choice also be her choice? Your choice must be unanimous."

Riku and Windelle thought about this for a few second, then together they took the card. It depicted Hollow Bastion. The glow from the card then vanished as the two pulled it closer.

"This seemed like a boring place to take a nap anyway," said Riku.

"That was very well said, Riku," the voice replied.

The card then begin to glow again, engulfing itself and its holders. When the glow faded, Riku and Windelle found themselves in the interior of a building. The room they were in was completely white, and had a rose motif. Windelle then let go of the card, allowing Riku to scrutinize it. "A door to the truth, huh…"

"Ugh, my head," they heard Ilsa moan behind them. Riku and Windelle turned around to see her rubbing her head, then reacting. "Where the heck are we?"

"Beats me," Windelle replied. "Looks like a castle though." He then looked past the Ixi, and saw no door behind them. "This must be a basement of sorts. That means…" He turned back to see Riku already walking up to a door ahead of them.

"The only place to go is up," Ilsa finished as the two of them followed Riku.

IV. Welcome to Castle Oblivion

"Hey, ya think it's OK to barge in?" said Goofy once we were inside the castle's first room. Completely white, rose motif, very plain, yet had a touch of mysticism.

"Good point. I was expecting guards to come over and escort us out or worse, send us to the dungeon," Gregorio said.

"But we gotta do it, if we're gonna find the king…" Donald retorted to Goofy.

"The king?!" Goofy looked around the room. "King Mickey's here?"

"Something just told me he'd be here, OK?"

"Really? 'Cause now that ya mention it, I was kinda thinkin' the same thing."

"Seriously? Me too!" said Sora. "One look at this castle, and I just knew: Our very best friends—they're here."

"A-hyuck! Guess great minds think alike."

"You're right," Yoris agreed. "I felt the same thing."

"Me too." Gregorio.

"So did I." Florina.

"I must be on a different page." Me. "'Cause I had no such notions."

Everybody turned in shock towards me, making me a bit nervous. Before they could say anything, Jiminy Cricket jumped out of Sora's hood. "Wait, hey, hold on! It can't be just a coincidence!"

"Oh, no, Jiminy," said Donald. "Ya don't mean that—"

"Yep, I had it too, mm-hmm! I had the exact same feeling."

"Gawrsh, maybe it's contagious," Goofy worried. "And maybe Rael is somehow immune."

"I don't know," I replied as I folded my arms. "I'm as normal a kid as Sora is."

"No, no. Something's screwy," Donald argued. "We gotta go take a look."

"All right." Sora started to walk toward the door at the end of the hall.

Donald jumped in surprise. "Wak! Where are you going?!"

"That way. To the door." The Key Bearer pointed ahead, then chuckled as he said, "Are ya scared?"

"Aw, don't be ridiculous! Come on, let's go, Goofy!" The court wizard walked after him.

"Hey, fellahs, shouldn't we shut the door behind us before we go?" asked the shield-user.

"Yeah, we should," agreed Gregorio as he turned, then reacted in surprise. "Guys!"

We all turned to see two familiar figures Sora and I encountered a night ago, right as the doors began to close.

Once they slammed shut (trapping us inside), Sora demanded, "That's it! Who are you?" We all then summoned our weapons, ready for battle. The duo began to walk towards us.

"Wak! Heartless! Oh yeah? I'll try some magic!" Donald then waved his wand and yelled, "THUNDER!" Much to our surprise, no magic came out, and we all waited awkwardly for something to happen. "Come on. THUNDER! THUNDER!" Nothing happened, except for Goofy scratching his head. "Come on… Blizzard? FIRE!" Donald continued to wave his wand, yet still nothing happened. Eventually, there were only two meters between us and the duo. "Why isn't it working?"

"I should think it's obvious," said the hooded figure. "The moment you set foot in this castle, you forgot every spell and every ability you ever knew." Everybody stood down… except strangely for me as one of my Power Orbs glowed and I hurled my shield. The Shield Boomer was a success, or it would've been had they not dodged it.

As soon as the shield returned to my hand, the pink-clad figure said, "Well, well, well. There seem to be those who are immune to the castle's effects. Or maybe it's because the power doesn't come from your mind and it's very simple to tap into." The voice further confirmed to me without a doubt that behind the uniform is a man.

"In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find," the hooded man then said. "That is the way in Castle Oblivion."

"Castle Oblivion?" parroted Sora.

We then heard something else. " F…"

"Goofy?" Florina asked.

He seemed to be saying some letters. "… V…"

This was disturbing me and everyone else, including the duo I suspected.

"A-hyuck! I still remember the alphabet!" I smacked myself in the face with a palm.

The pink-clad figure cleared his throat, getting our attention once more. "In this place, to find is to lose and to lose is to find," the hooded man repeated.

"He repeated himself," noted Yoris.

"I guess he likes that phrase," said Florina.

"I just thought you weren't listening," said the hooded man, "That is the way of Castle Oblivion." The mystery men disappeared in an aura of darkness, and then we heard them reappear behind us as we turned around. Their 'teleportation' was quite audible. "In this place, to find is to lose and to lose is to find."

_Again?_ I thought to myself.

Here, you will meet people that you have known in the past," the spandex-wearing figure said. "And you will meet people you miss."

"I miss?" Sora then seemed to get what they were getting to. "Riku! You mean Riku's here?!"

"How can you be so sure, Sora?" I asked.

"If what you want…is to find him…" The hooded man held out his hand and he unleashed a blast of wind and flower petals at us, which we tried to block against. I wasn't sure if this was a trick of the light, but I saw them approach Sora and me…and then phased right through us.

I was left severely disoriented as I felt memory after memory flash in my mind. Memories of my adventure starting from my awaking at Destiny Islands all the way to closing the Door to Darkness. I also saw other memories I wasn't sure were actually memories.

Sora was quicker to recover however, and had turned around to attack the duo with a jump slash. However, they disappeared in a blink, leaving flower petals behind "Huh?"

The two reappeared at stop of the staircase and behind the door at the end of the hall. We all ran over to the bottom of the steps.

"What'd you do to them?!" demanded Florina.

"I merely sampled your memories," answered the pink figure. "And from them, we made this." He produced a card in his hand. "To reunite with those you hold dear—" He tossed it to Sora, who caught it easily.

"That's a good way to poke an eye out," snarked Gregorio.

"What's this, a card?" I turned to look at the card and recognized Traverse Town.

"It is a promise for the reunion you seek," said the hooded man. "Hold the card to open the door. And beyond it, a new world." The two of them stepped aside to present the door ahead. "Proceed, Sora. To lose and claim anew, or… to claim anew only to lose…"

And then they disappeared once more, making us all gasp. We all then looked at the card on Sora's hand, including Jiminy.

After a few seconds, Sora decided. "C'mon—let's go."

"No use staying here," agreed Florina as we walked up to the door. Before he could hold up the card to open it…

"Sora, wait!" It was Jiminy. "Something's fishy about what he said! If you really keep going… They said the moment we set foot in this castle, we'd begin to forget! What do they mean by 'began'? Also, 'to find is to lose and to lose is to find'. So does that mean, that the farther we go, the more we'll forget! Can somebody tell me?!"

"Y'know, you are way too stressed out for a little guy," said Donald.

"He does have a point, you know," Florina told them. "But we're here now. We're already affected by this castle. If we turn back now, we may never get back what we lost. We have to see this through to the end."

Sora nodded at the only girl in the group, then held up the card. A bright light then emerged from the cracks in the door as it opened. Sora walked through, and we all followed him.

KHKHKHKHKH

[Jiminy's Journal/The Diary]

**Sora**

A bright and spirited boy chosen by the Keyblade to battle the Heartless.

It was Sora who defeated Ansem, ending his plan to shroud the world in darkness.

However, Sora continued his journey, seeking the friends he lost during the struggle.

**Donald Duck**

Court Wizard at Disney Castle who set out with Goofy after the king's disappearance with orders to find the Keyblade Master.

His short temper sometimes gets him into trouble, but he is very brave and caring of his loved ones. He would put his life on the line if it meant helping a friend.

**Goofy**

Captain of the Disney Castle Royal Knights. He set out with Donald after the king's disappearance.

He is cheerful and calm, and no one is more loyal to the king.

Goofy and Sora are especially good friends.

**Rael**

A boy who mysteriously ended up in Destiny Islands. As one of the Gunners of Light, he possesses the DirLuxGun.

He knows not why he is here, and is accompanying Sora to find a way home.

**Florina**

One of Sora's friends in the islands. As one of the Gunners of Light, she possesses the RefLuxGun.

She had been captured by Ansem's servant Stickee for him to acquire a Gun of Darkness, but thanks to Sora and his friends, she has been rescued and now fights by our side.

**Gregorio**

One of Sora's friends in the islands. He got involved in Sora's adventure when he and the other kids of Destiny Islands were rescued by Chosen One.

He has a snarky attitude and is quite a skilled battler.

**Yoris**

One of Sora's friends in the islands. He got involved in Sora's adventure when he and the other kids of Destiny Islands were rescued by Chosen One.

He seems to have his ways of finding out things that are kept secret.

**Jiminy Cricket**

That's right, me again. I'm keeping a journal of everyone's adventures.

I also act as Pinocchio's conscience, so he'll know right from wrong.

**Riku**

Sora's childhood friend.

Baited by the darkness and used by Maleficent, Xin, and Ansem, Riku once fought against Sora.

In order to seal the door to darkness, Riku stayed with the king on the other side. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Sora journeys in the hopes of finding Riku.

**Windelle**

One of Sora's friends in the islands. As one of the Gunners of Light, he possesses the GunDeLuna.

His body once possessed by Ansem's servant Stickee, Windelle once fought against Sora's group.

In order to seal the door to darkness, Windelle on the other side. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Sora's friends journey in the hopes of finding him.

**Kairi**

Sora's childhood friend.

Sora's journey began as a search for Kairi, who disappeared when their island home was swallowed by darkness.

Kairi was held captive by the Heartless, but thanks to Sora she and the islands were saved.

She waits there for Sora and Riku's return.

**Pluto**

The king's faithful dog.

The strength of their bond goes beyond master and pet.

He had left Disney Castle with Donald and Goofy, but is now on his own.

His keen sense of smell might lead us to secrets yet uncovered.

[D-Report]

**Riku**

A boy who was born and raised on a small group of islands.

Riku dreamt of seeing other worlds, and so he forsook the islands—only to be seduced by the power of darkness.

Enslaved by Ansem, pursuer of darkness, Riku clashed with his childhood friend Sora. But in the end, he was able to regain himself, and together with Sora closed the door to darkness. Still, the dark wounds in Riku's heart have yet to mend.

**Windelle**

A boy who found himself on Destiny Islands, with no little memory of where he came from, only that he (as well as his friends Florina, Yoris, and Gregorio) came for a purpose.

He was whisked with Riku, and his body ended up getting possessed by Ansem's servant Stickee, and he clashed against his friends and Sora. But in the end, he regained himself and was able to close

Windelle once fought against Sora's group.

In order to seal the door to darkness, Windelle on the other side. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Sora's friends journey in the hopes of finding him.

**Ilsa**

An operative of a secret organization called the Neopets Agency in the far-off world of Neopia.

After Donald and Goofy temporarily left, Sora and company encountered her in Hollow Bastion.

According to her, she knows Florina, Gregorio, Yoris, and Windelle on a personal level. What this could mean we won't be able to find out until we see her again; she was at the other side of the door to darkness when it was closed.

**King Mickey Mouse**

The king who reigns over Disney Castle.

He set off to protect his world and all worlds from the dominion of the dark.

When Riku and Windelle fell into the realm of darkness, the king and Django showed them the way, but they were separated when the door to darkness was closed.

**Django, the Solar Boy**

A mysterious figure who is a Gunner of Light, and possesses the GunDelSol.

At some point, he met with King Mickey and together they fought to all worlds from the dominion of the dark.

When Riku and Windelle fell into the realm of darkness, he and the king showed them the way, but they were separated when the door to darkness was closed.

**Sora**

Riku's childhood friend, and the hero of light chosen by the Keyblade to stand against the darkness.

Riku fought Sora while bridled by darkness, but their friendship proved stronger, and they ultimately worked together to close the door to darkness.

**Kairi**

Riku and Sora's friend growing up.

Kairi vanished when their home islands were devoured by darkness. Riku and Sora both journeyed to find her.

Kairi was held captive by the Heartless, but thanks to Sora, she and the islands were saved.

She waits there for Sora and Riku's return.

**Ansem**

Pursuer of darkness.

To open the door to darkness, Ansem used the Heartless to steal countless hearts.

He enslaved Riku, but met his demise at Sora's hand.

Nonetheless, Ansem's shadow lives on in the depths of Riku's heart.

**Stickee**

Ansem's servant.

He possessed Windelle and used his heart and Florina's to create a Gun of Darkness to further his master's plans.

In the end however, he met his demise at the hands of Sora's friends.

Nevertheless, as a contingency plan, part of him remains inside Windelle.

nightelf37: If you were to also read **Shisno Chronicles: Friendship is Still Magic**, you'd know who exactly is the Catalyst, though those who read the previous version f this fic will likely know what has happened. As for the entries, sorry I screwed some things up. I wonder if I should do journal entries here or eschew them for this story. Comment?

See ya on Third!


	2. Chapter 19: Floor One : Basement Twelve

nightelf37: Finally! Here comes Kingdom Hearts Remake: Chain of Memories: Retcon Version. As usual, here's the disclaimer. Remember, the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there, or the manga, or the movie where the current world is based on (if there even is), I 'own' it. I'm also implementing the Chain of Memories manga in this story as well.

Chapter 19: Floor One / Basement Twelve

I. Tutorial Mode

The first thing we saw upon crossing the door was—

"This can't be right… We're in Traverse Town!" gasped Sora.

The hooded man and his pink partner appeared behind us in a huge mass of blue and black darkness, which was how they departed before we first entered the castle. "What you see isn't real," the latter said. We turned around to see them, but they disappeared and reappeared behind us. "This town is an illusion created by your memories ingrained in that card."

"Our memories?" I asked.

Just then, Jiminy hopped down from Sora's shirt and landed on the floor. "Forget about that! We're five heads short!"

We looked around, and indeed only Sora and I (and Jiminy) were the ones who managed to make it through. "Donald? Goofy? Yoris? Florina? Gregorio? Guys, where are you?" we called out.

"What did you do with them?!" Sora then demanded.

"They are at the mercy of the cards now," said the pink-clad figure. In a fit of rage, I attempted to cast a spell on them, but I then saw that my bracers had no Power Orbs in them. He read my shock and produced a sphere that had a clock in it on his hand. It wasn't the Stop Power Orb though. "As I passed through you, I also used this to take all your…" He made air quotes. "'Power Orbs' and most of your other stuff and locked them in a small chest." He then produced a key in his other hand. "Here's the key to the chest. Be thankful I didn't decide to pilfer your stuff." He didn't tell me that the haversack had a security feature that prevented any thefts outside my knowledge (but didn't stop any 'plants'), and I wouldn't find that out until some time after my second one-on-one loss against Sora.

"Master the cards, and their strength will be yours again," said the hooded man. Right after he said that, he tossed us two small boxes that looked like card deck cases. The second we caught them, something washed over the two of us and the area changed somehow. _Battle matrix._ Sora and I were now side-by side, the boxes gone and our weapons out, and the hooded man and the pink guy were now opposite us. Also, Jiminy was gone.

In front of me, but visible only to me were what seems to be a Heads-Up Display. At the upper left were two green bar that seemed to indicate my shield's health and my own, the latter being significantly lower, which was worrying. At the lower right was a set of red cards with numbers on them and a picture of the DirLuxGun, one in front and two behind. I turned to face Sora, and saw similar 'stats' on the right side, but his cards instead showed his Keyblade.

There was another thing I noticed; my shield for some reason transformed into a blue "heater-shaped shield". It was smaller than its previous "riot shield" form, but not by much. I could still hide behind it completely if I were to crouch, but I'd have to watch my foot lest I hurt it.

"The laws of this castle require that your friends be transformed into cards," the hooded man explained. "If you value your friends, you won't fail to pick them up."

At that moment, two green cards of Donald and Yoris respectively bounced around the field. We ran to them and they were automatically collected, and I saw the Yoris card become the 'front card'.

"Cards you pick up are added to the top of your stack. Use them, and your friends will come to your aid."

A simple "use card" thought and Yoris appeared in front of me in a flash of white, just like the summons, but without the complex parts. At around the same time, Sora "used" the Donald card and summoned the court wizard. Both of them launched two fireballs before disappearing. I would find out later that Yoris's doodad that enabled him to fire iceballs and thunderballs was somehow taken away.

"The cards you use vanish, but they will reappear to aid you time and again," the hooded man continued to instruct us. "Cards are the hearts of your friends. Everything in this castle is ruled by cards. Whether an enemy or a door confronts you, cards are the only way to proceed. But you mustn't forget your own strength."

"Like jumping, 'dodge-rolling', defending, crouching while defending, stuff like that."

"First think for yourself. Move, then use the cards."

Sora interpreted this instruction as "attack" and struck the hooded man with his Keyblade. None of them seemed to faze our 'instructors'. I aimed my DirLuxGun at the pink figure and shot him. And at the lower left, I could see my cards go to the bottom side of my vision, then disappear. The pink figure was also unfazed and didn't even show a 'health bar' or cards of his own.

"You now know how to use your strength. But it would be of no use if you lose sight of your opponent. I wonder if you can catch me." Our two instructors began to hover around for a bit. We made sure to keep an eye on them. "Good. Every move you make causes a card to disappear. If you use up all your cards, you will be unable to act. But there is a solution. Keep using cards until you run out, and I will show you."

We did as they said, and the moment all my cards were gone, all I could see at the bottom-right was a black card with a number 1. I couldn't even pull my DirLuxGun's trigger.

"You have no more cards, and without them, no power. If you want that power back, you must focus. Bid the cards return to you, and they will."

Reloading the cards was as simple as lowering my head and thinking "cards, return", but it took a full second before they all heeded my plea.

"The strength of your heart brought back the lost cards. You can recall spent cards at any time. You need only wish it. But each time you do, the cards will take longer to return." Indeed it would take longer; the "reload card" now had a 2 instead of a 1. "The cards are by no means unlimited. Use them wisely. Anticipate the flow of battle— And choose the most effective cards. You may use any card in your deck."

The thoughts "next" and "previous" cycled the cards on the lower right.

"The four card types you use in battle are grouped into two wider categories. The first category includes attack cards, magic cards, and item cards. The second category consists entirely of enemy cards. To use cards from a different category—"

A thought flashed in my mind and I obeyed it; I thought "enemy cards", and I saw nothing, not even my "reload card", probably because we'd have to collect "enemy cards" first. I thought "battle cards" and my present stack turned back into my attack cards.

"Cards will empower you whether you are attacking or defending. But it is up to you to decide when to attack and when to defend. Do not forget that."

Part II. Battle Plan Adjustments

The "battle matrix" disappeared and we found ourselves back in where we 'left'. My Heads-Up Display" vanished too. Our friends (inc. Jiminy) were back as well, but Donald and Goofy were now wearing the clothes they wore when Gregorio, Yoris, and I first met them.

"Are you two all right? Where have you been?"

"You tell us! When you opened the door, we saw a strange light— …and the rest is just…blank."

"Gee, that doesn't help," said Jiminy. "Try to remember what happened. I have to keep my journal up to date."

And then Goofy said, "Hey, Donald, where'd I get the new clothes?"

"Wak?! Me too, Goofy! Somebody's been messing with our clothes!" I said nothing about those clothes being what they wore in our adventure to stop Ansem.

As for the other three, I nearly had an aneurysm. Gregorio, Yoris, and Florina now wore uniforms identical to Ilsa's, except their uniforms had—instead of brown—a prominent color scheme thematic to their hair colors; green, blue, and yellow. Yoris lost his beanie and had a brown bandanna that had a certain shield on it. Florina lost her bandanna and Gregorio lost his beanie too.

"Why are we wearing these things?"

"Huh. They look swanky."

"It's like we're a team, but why don't the others have similar uniforms."

"Could it be the cards again?" Sora accused the hooded man.

"That is for you to ponder," was the reply. "Master the cards and make your way through the castle. But from here, you two walk alone."

"Alone?! We can't let Sora go alone!" gasped Goofy.

"Yeah!" Donald agreed. "Sora can't do anything without our help!"

"Thanks a lot, Donald," Sora replied with sarcasm.

"Rael's a 'support fighter'," Yoris argued with the duo. "He can't fight well on his lonesome!" I felt a bit less confident when he said that.

"He'll need more than Sora to back him up," added Gregorio.

"I don't know," argued Florina. "He and Sora **did** beat Sephiroth on their own."

"After almost dying. If it weren't for that lucky pull of that Megalixir—"

"Well, now that I look back, it wasn't that close a call when they fought Riku and Windelle back in Hollow Bastion," Yoris pointed out.

"I guess so," replied the lancer.

"You sure you'll be okay?" Goofy asked the Keyblade wielder.

"Of course!" Sora then turned to the duo. "You want me to go alone? Fine. I can take care of myself."

I sighed in concession. "This is their domain, their rules. Even if I wasn't confident with myself, I'll have to make do with what I have. And that is Sora."

"Hmph, the hero speaks boldly, even though the other shows hesitation," smirked the hooded man. At least it sounded like that. "Go, then. The rest of Castle Oblivion awaits. Walk the avenues of latent memory, and you shall meet someone dear to you." He and the pink figure gave us a few more cards, then disappeared.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Jiminy then said.

"Relax, Jiminy," assured Sora as he took the cards. "I'm ready for any tricks he's got up his sleeve. How hard can it be to figure out these cards? All I have to do is use one in front of that door over there." He pointed at the door ahead, and I realized the entire area was naught but a room. albeit a room with no ceiling, which showed the night sky that was prevalent in Traverse Town.

When I looked back however after checking out the sky, I realized we were now on our own; Sora and me. The two of us approached the door and when Sora hit the door with the Keyblade, we were transported in a small matrix called "Room Synthesis", which consisted of us standing in front of the door and "Map Cards" around us. We also saw a hollow card in front of us with what seemed to be a criteria request, and when I saw our only Map Cards so far (a blue "Moment's Reprieve", and a "Keycard" named "Key of Beginnings", which were the cards the duo provided) Sora used the blue card and the door then opened, allowing us to cross it and taking us out of the small matrix.

We found ourselves at a sector of 'Traverse Town', though it seemed weird and resembled a 'room'. We then saw a strange diamond-shaped structure. We touched it, and a voice spoke to me in my head. _Would you like to save your progress?_ I immediately had the feeling that this was like a video game. I thought "yes", and I was told our "progress was saved".

Right after that, we saw a Shadow appear. I immediately shot it, and the "battle matrix" initiated, which came in the form of a strange barrier washing over us, changing the area a bit. It followed with my Heads-Up Display appearing. Also, we saw more Shadows appear. It didn't even take ten seconds before we finished them all, and we acquired a red "Map Card" too named "Tranquil Darkness".

Once that was done, the "battle matrix" dissipated and we found ourselves back in the room. We then saw another door ahead and used our new Map Card to cross it. I was able to 'access' the door by shooting at the small keyhole the door had. Luckily, the criteria asked for a red card, which "Tranquil Darkness" was.

Getting used to the 'new system' was an arduous task. Fighting Heartless, busting breakables that revealed more cards, including attack cards, Map Cards, magic cards (we were down to Blizzard, Cure, Silence, and Esuna), item cards (for now, just Potion), and even a few "enemy cards". There were also the green spheres that restore our health, as well as red orbs that gave us "Moogle Points", and even little gems that slowly strengthened us (A/N: EXP Points).

Our Friend Cards put a serious limit on what our friends could do. Donald could only cast two spells at random (Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Cure). Goofy rammed into foes straight ahead. Yoris launched two fireballs at foes. Gregorio would come in from above, get the jump on a Heartless, then swing his javelin (he insists on calling his weapon that) about and slash at surrounding foes. Florina would appear back-to-back with me and fire her RefLuxGun at foes, using the Solar Saber technique when they get close. Because of my lack of Power Orbs, I couldn't perform that ability myself.

I had to calm Sora down enough so we can take out our Card Decks, which contained the cards we used for battle, and adjust them. The cards 'on reserve' were either put in a pocket in my bag, or in Sora's shorts pockets. For some reason, when I wanted to adjust my deck, I could see no "DirLuxGun" cards, and can only put magic cards, item cards, and enemy cards. Only when I was done with that did I see my attack cards (which were at random values as I saw durng battle). However, I saw that the more non-attack cards I put, the less attack cards I get. I attempted adding some of Sora's "Kingdom Key" cards, but they were rejected somehow.

And I put myself in charge of using Map Cards, since I knew what to conserve. "Keep at least one of every number in every color set," I had said. "Who knows what we may run into as we travel?" Thankfully, the duo had also provided a summon-able mini-map in the form of a card that showed us the adjoining rooms and all sorts of useful information, like where we should use the Key of Beginnings.

After a while, we reached that particular door, and I used up the necessary cards, and finally the Key of Beginnings and we crossed the door.

KHKHKHKHKH

Erstwhile, about twelve floors below us…

Riku and Windelle recognized the place they entered, neither realizing that Ilsa was gone.

"This is Hollow Bastion!" gasped Riku.

"What you see is not real," the voice from before corrected. "It's the world of your memory."

"My memory?"

"Yours and Windelle's. The things you remember from your time at Maleficent's castle became a card, and that card made this world. You've seen everything here before, haven't you?"

"Yeah… So what now?" said Windelle. "Are we going to learn something? Maybe meet someone?"

"You would meet the people in your memories. Ordinarily."

"What does that mean?"

There was no reply.

"Hey! We're asking you a question!" Riku called out. There was still no response. "Fine. But it had better be you I run across next, Voice." He then ran towards the castle entrance that was ahead. He didn't notice a paper plane fly their way.

"Come on, Ilsa, let's go." Windelle then followed, but stopped upon realizing that there was no reply. He turned around, and saw that the Ixi was nowhere to be seen. "Riku!"

The yellow-clad silver-hair turned back to face Windelle. "What is it?" he then realized the same thing. "Wait, where's Ilsa?" He was then hit by the paper plane. it merely annoyed him as he took it, and opened it, finding a message.

Basically, it told them what Sora and I were taught above, about the cards and everything, and that Ilsa was now a "Friend Card" that would appear in battle and they could use it to call her for assistance. There were a few other things explained, and once he and Windelle were done reading it, the latter stored it in his pocket and they crossed the entrance ahead, where they also acquired some "Map Cards", along them the "Key of Beginnings".

The silver-haired duo were an effective team, both being agile attackers, neither being a burden to the other, although not **quite** completely synchronized. With the lack of any healing methods, they had to resort to Ilsa for healing (and some muscle helps too, what with the Defender Heartless around). It wasn't long before they found the Room of Beginnings.

Part III. The Room of Beginnings

Back at the First Floor…

Sora and I came upon the Third District in Traverse Town. In my first visit of the place, I would've been huffing and puffing after all that running. But my adventure managed to improve my stamina, although I still can't take much hits.

"Hmm, fighting alone isn't as easy as I thought…" Sora commented.

"You're telling me," I agreed. "No offense, but I don't feel safe enough with just you watching my back. It was an absolute horror fighting Riku and Windelle with just you, and then Sephiroth was a literal nightmare. Can't believe I didn't actually jizz my pants when we first met him. And it seems the Barrier Jacket phenomenon also protects from germs. I mean, how long exactly did we wear these clothes?"

Before Sora could answer, five cards covered in light descended in front of us and emitted a long flash. When it faded, our friends were there.

"Aah! Don't pop out of nowhere like that!" gasped Sora. As for me, I wasn't as surprised.

"Hey, it's not our fault! We don't know what's going on!" said Donald.

"A-hyuck?!" gasped Goofy.

"Who's that?" noted Florina.

We turned around and saw a very familiar dog. He would later become one of our Friend Cards.

"Pluto?!" gasped Sora.

"Things keep getting stranger. What's Pluto doing here?!" wondered Donald.

"There's nothing strange about that," said Goofy. "We came to Traverse Town with Pluto, didn't we?"

"Did we?"

Jiminy hopped down from Sora to correct them. No, wait! According to my journal, it was before you met Sora that you came to town with Pluto!"

"Wak! He's right! We were chasing after Pluto, and that's how we ended up in Castle Oblivion!"

"But aren't we in Traverse Town?" asked the knight.

"Well, it's not really Traverse Town," Jiminy corrected. "I think the card created this Traverse Town inside Castle Oblivion!"

Sora held his head as he refused to comprehend the statements. "Aaghh! Who cares about all that? It's too confusing! I don't know where we are, but let's just keep moving forward defeating Heartless! We'll get somewhere!"

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Gosh, you look like you're fighting like a novice again, Rael," remarked Gregorio.

"Well, it's kinda hard when I no longer have the Power Orbs I had acquired over the journey. But I think I'll be fine."

"Think like that, and you're as good as Heartless fodder," a very familiar voice came.

We all turned around, and in front of us was a very familiar person. The black stetson, the long jacket, his massive frame, and his long-range weapon. Without a doubt, it could only be—

"Irvine!" I called out. "What are you doing in Castle Oblivion?"

At around the same time, Sora cried out "Leon!". The two of us turned to face one another in confusion.

"What?" we both gasped.

"Castle Oblivion?" Irvine asked, getting my attention. "What are you talking about? This is Traverse Town. And how do you even know my name?" He leaned on one leg and rested one hand on his waist. "I'd never give my name to strangers, unless you overheard it from someone else."

"What?!" gasped Gregorio. "What's with you, Irvine?"

"Yeah!" agreed Yoris. "We all all fought the Heartless together! You know that!"

At around the same time, Sora said pretty much the same thing, but to "Leon". This confused me greatly. Was this another trick of the castle? Were we seeing different things? Who was seeing what?

"Look, I don't even know what you're talking about," said the sniper. "I don't even know your names."

"You don't?" Goofy asked, but I suspected it was at "Leon".

Irvine shrugged his shoulders. "…Sorry."

"I can't believe it," said Sora. "How can you have forgotten about us?"

"Look, I feel for you, but I think you've got the wrong guy. It happens." I looked down sullenly. This couldn't be the Irvine I know. For all I knew, he might just be a construct created by the castle. This Irvine seemed to see how I was feeling. "Chin up, Rael. You shouldn't take this personally."

I started up in surprise, and so did our friends. "You **do** know his name!" cried out Donald and Gregorio at the same time, although the former was likely talking to "Leon".

"Now wait a second." Irvine put a hand to his chin. "Why **do** I know your name?"

Florina turned to Yoris and said, "Do you know Irvine to be a bit of a prankster?"

"Not really. He's quite serious, especially after he and his friends lost Selphie and Squall when their world got invaded."

"Florina, Yoris, what are you guys talking about back there?" Irvine called out to them.

"Hey!" Gregorio shouted.

"Don't judge me, Gregorio— Wait…" The sniper held his head. "Something must be wrong with my memory. But that can't be right. None of us used Guardian Forces for a long time now." Florina looked at Yoris in confusion, and he mouthed 'later'. She wasn't there when Irvine and his friends recounted their tale. "What's happening here?"

"Looks like I was onto something after all." Coming from…somewhere was another familiar person. Brunette with caramel highlights, blue duster sweater, and a special launched weapon. It was Rinoa! "I sensed some uncanny kind of power. And I decided to look into it. Well, maybe we should take Rael and his friends to our hideout so we can form a plan together."

I wasn't exactly surprised with her sensing power, since I knew she was a Sorceress, and was a very powerful spellcaster. I was only mildly surprised though that she knew my name. In the 'background' I caught Sora, Donald, and Goofy recognizing "Yuffie".

"Rinoa, you know his name!" gasped Yoris.

"Uh-huh. Looks like you know mine, too. And I know yours too, Yoris."

"You know these people?" Irvine asked her.

"Actually, no."

"Can somebody tell us what's going on here?!" complained Gregorio as he gripped his hair.

"No idea at all, sorry to speak. But one thing's for sure; I do not know any of you guys, but I do know all your names."

And she named out each of us. With the exception of Sora, Donald, and Goofy. It looks like just as none of us see "Leon" or "Yuffie", neither she nor Irvine could see them.

"You seem to be taking this well, Rinoa," Irvine remarked.

"Well, it can't be helped. I'll go call the others. They're out exterminating Heartless. See you guys later." With that, she left, and for some reason so did Pluto. He would later be one of our Friend Cards as well.

"…Guess Rinoa's right," Irvine said as he shook his head, smiling a bit. "It can't be helped. Come on, follow me. But there are Heartless wandering around town. I'd better teach you how to protect yourself in battle."

Immediately, the "battle matrix" initiated, and I found myself alone facing him. He didn't show a "health bar", but I saw his cards, which were uncannily the "DirLuxGun" as well. My present Deck was also different.

"See the numbers printed on your cards?" Irvine began. "They range from zero to nine. Higher numbers mean stronger cards. If you and your enemy both play a card at the same time, the higher card wins. Go on, give it a try." He then cocked his shotgun and aimed at me.

Whenever my card was higher then his, my shot pierced his and hit him, making him wince. Whenever it was vice-versa, his shot pierced mine, and I had to react fast so that it hit my shield. Sometimes, I don't act fast enough, and I see my personal health in my HUD (Heads-Up Display) go down. When it was a tie, our shots collided in a little "Kaboom!". Sora and I actually saw this at work when we fought the Heartless before coming to the Room of Beginnings, and results of these 'card competitions' varied from Heartless to Heartless.

"See how it works? Playing a card higher than your opponent's and breaking through their defenses is called a 'card break.' Playing a lower card results in your attack being deflected. No matter how powerful the card, if the other's card is higher, it will be deflected. Whoever's on the losing side of a break is left vulnerable to attacks. Don't let it be you, although I see you can defend if you're quick enough.

"Cards with zero as their value are special. No matter what card the enemy plays, you can break it with a zero card. Play it too soon though, and the enemy can break it with any card, including a one. In other words, it's the most powerful card if it comes last, and useless if it comes first. Try to make the most of it. Card values also affect the cost of assembling a deck. Keep that in mind.

"Now it's time to teach you how to stock cards. You don't have to use battle cards one at a time. You can also assemble three cards and use them all at once. This is called "stocking" cards. Stocking cards and using them in threes is much stronger than using cards individually. Go on, give it a try. Stock any three cards in your deck."

I finally sighed in relief as he finished doing exposition and thought "stock card". My top card went below my health bars. After repeating it two more times, Irvine spoke again.

"The sum of your three stocked cards becomes the value you play. The value is usually high and hard to break, and the resulting attack deals a lot of damage. Don't hold back. Show me what you can do."

I aimed at Irvine and thought "stock" as I pulled the trigger. What came out wasn't three consecutive shots as I expected, but a charged shot came out of the DirLuxGun and struck him.

"Stocking more than one attack card in sequence results in a Charge Shot. But if you stock a magic card or item card between two attack cards, you'll attack, cast the spell or use the item, then attack again. But those aren't the only benefits. Choose your cards carefully and you can unleash special abilities called 'sleights'. Sleights come in all varieties, and each has its own unique card combination. You should try it out once you've collected more cards and learned a sleight or two. But remember this: Every time you use stocked cards, you lose the first card you picked. You can't reload it. The lost card won't return until the end of the battle. Relying only on sleights will cause your cards to run out. That means trouble."

With that, the "battle matrix" dissipated, but the only one still with me aside from Irvine and probably "Leon" is Sora.

"Think you've got the hang of it?"

"I guess. I think the rest will have to come to me in the field."

Irvine then took a card out of his pocket and offered it to me. "Here, I found this lying around. You take it." I took it, and saw that it was a blue card, and it depicted a certain sloth bear: Baloo. "Remember what I told you and make good use of it."

The moment I thanked him, I was immediately transported back to the room we were in before we used the "Key of Beginnings". Sora was beside me, and on his hand was a blue card depicting Simba, as well as another Keycard, which he said was called the "Key of Guidance".

KHKHKHKHKH

Back at Basement Twelve…

Riku and Windelle found themselves at a room they were familiar with. "Everything **is** just how we remember it," said the former. "Even this room…"

Just then, a card covered in light descended in front of them and emitted a long flash. When it faded, Ilsa was there.

"Whoa!" gasped Windelle. Don't pop out of nowhere like that!"

"I can't help it," she replied. "This castle is doing this, not me. By the way, where are we? I know this isn't technically Hollow Bastion, but…"

"It must be nice being back in the old bedroom you shared," the Voice answered. "Think of all the memories…"

"You again," sneered Riku. "Sorry, but these memories we could do without. Xin provided us this room."

"So he did. And you lived here, tempted by the darkness she offered. You cast away your home, your friends, everything… But at least they gave you a nice room."

"Stop talking!" Riku then ran out of the room.

Ilsa turned to Windelle and asked, "Anything else I need to know about the two of you?"

"The portal we took to leave Destiny Islands chucked us off in this castle. Riku gave in to **their** traps. I just played along, but it turns out Stickee was somehow already starting to take control of me, I think ever since the Islands started to fall to the darkness. I was taken over completely by the time he and I found Kairi's body and Florina was captured by my hands. I know—"

Riku came back in and saw his friends weren't moving yet. "Windelle! Let's go! we still have to find a way out of the castle!"

"Oh right!"

When they got out, they had the "Key of Guidance" in hand.

Part IV. The Room of Guidance

First Floor…

Sora and I tested out our sleights and discovered a lot, although for some reason I had more than him. We also found out that I could use the Simba card and Sora could use the Baloo card, and we soon got more of them (and other cards) as we fought Heartless or checked breakable objects.

Also, at certain points, after acquiring enough little gems, we were given an opportunity to learn a new sleight, earn extra "Card Points" so we can add more cards in our Decks, and extra "health", which would allow us to endure more hits. I felt baffled at this, as if this was all a game. I happened to have the extra choice of choosing between "personal health" and "shield health". Because of the card breaks, I figured I might not be able to block most attacks this time, so I prioritized on "personal health".

Eventually, we found the next important door we needed to go to and used the necessary Map Cards and the Key of Guidance to get in.

However, when I emerged in the room it led me to, I found that Sora, Donald, and Goofy were missing as we (me, Gregorio, Yoris, and Florina) found ourselves in room 8 of the Refuge Asylum. Irvine, Rinoa, Quistis, Zell, they were all here and seated at a table. And on that table were plates filled with food.

"Welcome," Rinoa greeted. "I found Quistis fast and Zell was just on the way back here."

"We figured you'd be hungry, and so were we, so I ordered food," Quistis added.

I didn't care if this was a construct, that this whole thing didn't make sense, or if the food would even fill my stomach, but we dug in. As we ate (I hoped Sora, Donald, and Goofy were eating too wherever they are), Quistis spoke again.

"I don't know whether 'nice to meet you' or 'good to see you again' is the response that would feel right. I'm certain we never met, yet it feels like you really are one of our friends."

"Yeah," agreed Zell. "The only thing we know about you is your name, and somehow we're okay with that."

I didn't bother with insisting that we **did** meet. Since this entire town was a construct from our memories, I had a strong suspicion that these four were constructs as well. And that was a very sad thought.

"But we **have** met," Yoris insisted. "We took on the Heartless together. You kept our friends safe while we traveled the worlds."

"I don't feel you're wrong, but…" Irvine shook his head. "I just can't remember."

"Then I guess you won't remember what you promised us before we left for End of The World," said Gregorio. "There were some friends of Sora's we wanted you to meet."

"Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid, right?"

"Aha! You **do** remember!"

"He's right, you know," pointed out Zell. "I remember us making that promise, too!"

"Looks like it can't be written off as a coincidence, then."

"I have no memory of that promise, but somehow I still remember," said Rinoa. "I think your hearts are doing the remembering for us."

"Our hearts?" I asked, completely confused as to how a heart can keep memories.

"We don't know you guys, but your hearts are full of memories of us together. Those memories must resonate in our hearts, too. Maybe they tell us things we couldn't otherwise know."

"So you're saying that their memories are affecting ours?" Irvine asked. There was a nod from the Sorceress.

"Maybe it's like that guy said, then," Florina mused. "This town is just an illusion. Something Sora's and Rael's memories created."

"And…there's someone special to you in this town?" inquired Quistis.

"How did— Oh, right. Our memories are somehow resonating with yours, telling you what happened." The RefLuxGun wielder cleared her throat. "A friend of ours is somewhere in this town—I mean, Castle Oblivion."

"Castle Oblivion? What's that? There aren't any castles in here," said Zell.

"That's not quite what we mean."

"You're still not sure what's going on yourself. Right?"

"I actually have some idea," I put in. "But I still lack evidence. It'd be wrong to jump to conclusions. I think some more exploration would help."

KHKHKHKHKH

Basement Twelve…

After some more fighting (and learning about their "Level Ups" and choosing between "health boost" and "attack boost" each time) Riku and Windelle found the door they needed to use the "Key of Guidance" on.

When they crossed it, the found themselves at what they remembered was the upper level of the Entrance Hall. Ilsa appeared shortly after.

"No one here, either… There's nothing but Heartless in this castle," said Windelle. He and Riku then jumped down to the lower level and the former turned to the sky.

"Voice! I know you're watching—so explain this! Where are the people from my memories?" he called.

"Do you want to see them?" it asked.

"Of course we do."

"But you cast them aside."

"What?" gasped the silver-clad boy.

"You dreamt of the outside world, and you passed through the door to darkness. Behind you, you left family, friends, home—everything—all in pursuit of darkness."

"No, I didn't! Just Riku."

"But I cast that aside, too!" Riku said.

"And what do you have to show for it?" replied the voice. "First your home, then the dark. Your heart only knows how to cast away. It's empty—like that room. Like your memories. That's why you don't meet anyone. Your heart is hollow—except for the residual darkness."

"You're wrong! I rejected the darkness!"

"Ha ha ha… Did you really, now?"

Riku didn't answer as he ran out of the room.

Ilsa turned to Windelle and asked, "Is what the voice said all true?"

"Mm-hmm. Even as Stickee began to take over, I could still remember what I did and what he did while using my body. Somehow, even when my Heart became imprisoned in Stickee's Gun of Darkness, I could see everything my body was forced to do." He looked at his hands. "These hands have hurt my friends. I can never wash off the guilt."

Ilsa then lay a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe not, but you can atone for it. Come on. I think Riku needs you."

Part V. The Room of Truth

First Floor…

I reunited with Sora after leaving the room of Guidance and we updated each other on what we experienced. Unfortunately for Sora, he, Donald, and Goofy didn't get a chance to eat, although he got a Keycard called "Key to Truth". During our battles, we found a very special Map Card called Key to Rewards. Remembering a certain door that needed it, we backtracked to it, used the necessary Map Cards, and opened the door to the Room of Rewards.

Inside it were two treasure chests. The two of us opened one each (I found out through a Calm Bounty room that I can open chests by shooting at the lock, though I assumed it only works in the castle). Sora got some new attack card called Lionheart and he's likely to get more of them soon.

As for me, I acquired an enemy card that depicted…a "VII" behind a silver backdrop. _What's this?_ Its effect was "Combo Boost", which boosts power with every hit with an attack card. But if I would get a card break, the boost disappears. The effect lasts for 20 attacks and also gives resistant to fire, ice, lightning, and special attacks._ Score! _There was only one copy, though, and I felt Sora could use it better. However, when I gave it to him, we found out it cannot enter his Deck for some reason. At first, he thought it was because he had too many cards at the moment, but it turns out it was the same case as me trying to insert his Keyblade attack cards; it just wasn't going to work. Shrugging, made our way to the door that needed the Key to Truth.

After meeting the other criteria it demanded, the Key to Truth was used and we passed through. However, instead of any familar place in Traverse Town, I found myself in a black void and Sora was no longer in sight. I was calm at first, but as the minutes past, I started to panic. However, just before it could consume my mind, I found myself in the Third District.

And in front of me was the Guard Armor Heartless, or five of its pieces at least, which began to assemble itself. And past it were Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"Sora!" I cried out.

"Guys!" Sora replied.

I then turned to see Yoris, Gregorio, and Florina behind me as well.

"Looks like we have to beat this guy," said the cannoneer.

"You mean he and Sora have to," Gregorio corrected. "We're only useful as summons now."

And then the head came down…only it was a giant version of its face guard, and on top of it was a very familiar figure. Except… there were many who wore the same garb as him.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" the figure asked himself. "Looks like somebody's out late. And we all know what happens to those who don't follow the curfew, now don't we?" He then aimed his halberd at us.

I was weirded out by this. Neither Sora nor I remembered any of the Wutai Association (as Xin called his group during our first even fight against him and Maleficent) acting like this. These **were** supposed to be from our memories, right?

I didn't get more time to ponder on this as the "battle matrix" initiated.

(A/N: Unfortunately for you guys, I won't be writing down the boss battles in the rooms, like Guard Armor and Jia. I **will** write down the ones that involve the Organization, their partners, and you-know-who.)

KHKHKHKHKH

Basement Twelve…

Riku and Windelle (with Ilsa accompanying them) entered what they remembered to be the Castle Chapel, where two certain figures were waiting. Ilsa immediately entered a battle stance, but she knew it wouldn't matter when the fight began.

"I knew you would return, Riku," said the sorceress.

"Maleficent! Xin! You're alive?!" the silver-clad boy gasped.

"You haven't been paying attention," Xin stated. "We are but figments of your memory."

"Of all the people we could run into, it had to be you."

"But of course. After all, your heart is steeped in darkness. You can only see those who exist in that same darkness…"

"No…" gasped Riku.

"Be grateful you have someone to keep you company. You heart is empty. Were it not for the darkness it contains, you would be completely alone."

"That's sounding pretty good right about now."

"Come, now. You once turned to me to sate your hunger for darkness. You want me here. Who but I can grant you the darkness you long for?" Maleficent beckoned.

"There was a time I did want you around. I surrendered my heart to the dark. But never again. You and your darkness have nothing to offer. All I did was lose myself… Empty myself! I'm finished with all that. If I'm stuck seeing people like you, people of the dark… I'll take you out one by one."

Maleficent and Xin said nothing as they turned their backs. "Then you mustn't forget to destroy yourself last. For, like us, you are one of the dark."

"That's fine with me. I turned to darkness because my heart was weak. I hate that weakness. It's like I'm my own enemy. And seeing people like you embrace the darkness just makes it worse! Enough talk, Maleficent, Xin."

_I, on the other hand, never even wanted it_, Windelle thought to himself. _Stickee rendered me unresponsive when the portal opened below me and Riku. The next thing I knew, we were in Hollow Bastion, and he was already slowly taking over my body._

"So you hate the darkness enough to fight it," Xin said. "Oh, the agony you must feel! Then let me end your pain—end it forever…with the wondrous power of darkness!" The two then faced the party of three once more and while he just summoned his halberd, Maleficent used her dark magic to transform into her dragon form. And then the "battle matrix" initiated.

KHKHKHKHKH

First Floor…

The Guard Armor was easy-peasy, even with Jia and his Quake spell. Once we defeated them we got both of their enemy cards.

Once we got rid of the giant Heartless, we found ourselves in the Second District, where we met up with our Traverse Town friends. Naturally, given the strangeness of what's going on, only I, Florina, Yoris, and Gregorio could see Irvine's group while only Sora, Donald, and Goofy (and likely Jiminy) could see "Leon"'s. Somehow, we were able to tune out each others' conversations.

"So your friend's not here?" Quistis asked.

"No," Florina replied. "I don't think we'll find him in this town. But he's somewhere in this castle. I just know it."

Zell was confused. "Castle? Like this whole town's inside some humongous castle?"

"Not really, but I think the castle merely has portals that take us to worlds like this, like a terminus or something," I speculated.

"That's a sound theory," Irvine agree with me. "We may not understand what's going on, but you do. Don't worry, guys. No matter what shape reality takes, you can handle it. I may not remember you, but I know you in my heart."

"Good luck," Quistis wished.

"Continue kicking Heartless butt, okay?" Zell made us promise.

"We will," smiled Gregorio as the group left and so did our companions. However, Rinoa stayed behind as I saw the former off. Sora was still there too.

"Rinoa?" I asked.

"I don't have all the answers, but I had to tell you something. Your memories created this town, right?"

"Um, yeah? That's what the guy who gave me the card said." I started to dread what she was about to say next.

"If that is true, then this town is just a figment of your mind…and the same applies to us."

My heart sank as I gave a sorrowful sigh. At the side, I heard Sora cry out in disbelief. If he was revealed the same truth, he must not be taking it well. "Somewhere, deep down, I kinda knew it was true. But…it still hurts to hear it."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not really me. I don't remember the things I should. And I sense things I shouldn't. Warn your friends to beware their memories. In the journey to come, you'll be faced with more illusions. Sometimes the shadows of your memory will deceive you, and try to lead you astray."

"I hate it when advice comes in the form of riddles," I moaned as I scratched my head.

"I'm sorry again. I'm just another illusion. The truth is out of my reach. Stay strong. Don't let the illusions distract you from what's truly important."

"…I'll try."

"Sora!" Donald called.

He and I turned to see our companions at a nearby alley.

"Are you ready to go?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah, be right there," Sora replied. "Well, I'd better be going." He seemed to address someone as he turned around. I turned around as well, and saw that Rinoa was already gone, although I knew she couldn't have disappeared that quickly even if she ran. "Aerith? Aerith!"

"What about Aerith?" asked Donald.

"Where did she go? I was just talking to her!"

"Aerith left with Leon and the others, remember?" Goofy reminded.

"Huh?!"

"You worried us," said the duck. "Just standing there by yourself."

"Is this what she meant…?" Sora wondered to himself.

Soon, Sora and I found ourselves at a peculiar room. It was very tall, there was a "Save Point" nearby, and there was a tall ladder that led to an open door with only light on the other side. That must be the exit.

We said nothing to each other as I adjusted my deck. We only had one Guard Armor enemy card. Its effect was Wide Attack, which is supposed to extend the attack range of attack cards. As a ranged fighter, I figured Sora needed it more and gave it to him.

As for Jia's, its effect was Ground Resist, which reduces damage I take from ground-walking Heartless. Naturally, those that fly are not in that category.

After "saving", we climbed the ladder, Sora first. He then helped me up and we were soon out of Traverse Town.

KHKHKHKHKH

Basement Twelve…

After defeating Maleficent and Xin and acquiring their enemy cards (Maleficent's card allowed for stronger attacks "at the cost of a slower reload", and Xin's provided resistance to all damage taken from Heartless), Riku and Windelle found themselves back at the room they left when they entered the Room of Truth.

"Good thing about the cards," Windelle commented. "There's no way we could've dodged some of their attacks without a card break."

"I'll have to agree with you there," replied Riku. "Looks like we'll have to find the exit ourselves."

"Are you implying someone else is experiencing the same things we are and—"

"No. Never mind. Let's go."

And after a few more rooms, Riku and Windelle eventually found the exit they were looking for.

VI. The Second "Boss"

First Floor Exit Hall…

The moment we left the door that took us out of Traverse Town, as we ran out the doorway, the rest of our friends were running with us too. And we were shortly greeted by the duo from before; the hooded man and his pink partner.

"Well?" asked the pink one. "Did you enjoy meeting your memories?"

"Yeah, it was good to see everyone," Sora admitted. "But what do you really want from me?"

"What do you have to give?" asked the hooded man as he and his partner walked toward us. We naturally prepared for a fight, calling forth our weapons.

Just then, a man with a similar cloak appeared behind the duo we were curtently confronting. However, his hood was down, revealing thick red shoulder-length spiky hair, small eyebrows, green eyes, and purple reverse-teardrop markings under them. The sleeves of his cloak were also tightened in the wrists.

Another individual then appeared in the same manner. Like the pink one, he wore a skintight spandex suit, but colored red, and with white triangular accents. His helmet was similarly colored, and the visor had a jagged pattern, as if representing a carnivore's open mouth. His wrists had gold bracers, his belt was also gold, and so were the top of his boots. At the front of the suit, I nearly expected a circle with a dinosaur's paw print, but I instead saw a "VIII", the Roman numeral for 8.

"Hello!" the redhead greeted. Sora grunted at the sight of more opponents.

"What do you want?" the pink-clad guy asked boredly.

"No hogging the hero." He and his companion were answered by the earlier duo tossing a card each at them, which they caught with ease.

"Then perhaps you'd like to test him," said the hooded man as he and his partner disappeared.

"Perhaps we would." Once they were alone with us, he continued. "Our show now, Keyblade master. Who am I? Oh, my name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

"Uh…sure." Sora answered.

"Good, you're a quick learner."

"While I'm not about to give you my real name," the other guy addressed me. "You can call me Red Ranger." I raised an eyebrow, not quite impressed.

"So Sora, now that we're getting to know each other better…" Axel then raised his arms. Red Ranger followed suit and after a second they stretched them outward as pairs of red sharp wheels appeared on their hands. Axel's had eight silver spikes, and four circles around the edges, and two black handles shaped like crosses in the middle. Red Ranger's were merely sharp-rimmed, but had the same cross handles.

"…don't you go off and die on us now!" finished Red Ranger.

Immediately after, the "battle matrix" initiated, leaving me and Sora alone to face our opponents. Castle Oblivion's matrix seemed to be a large circular platform, with several small pillars floating over by the edge.

The two started by tossing their wheels at us. We both ducked ("A throwing weapon?!" Sora gasped.), but only I immediately turned around as I saw Red Ranger standing behind me, having teleported to catch his weapon. The same went with Axel, as he gave way his position to Sora by answering him.

The two then began barraging us with attacks, and we defended against them while Sora found out that blocking was part of his "own strength". As I saw Red Ranger's cards thanks to the HUD, I realized this was not the real battlefield anymore. Everything was governed by cards, and we all had to follow its rules. And its rules were different from "real" battles.

With that in mind, I interrupted Red Ranger's attack with a card break. Then, I quickly stocked up cards to perform the Boomer Warp sleight, having arranged my Deck for this. It works like the Shield Boomer ability, except instead of the shield returning to me, I get teleported to where the shield would be and I would catch it. I discovered it during our Traverse Town skirmishes, and was finally used to the teleporting.

I followed this up with a series of shots, before stocking Blizzard cards. However, the time I took to stock them gave Red Ranger enough time to get in close and slash at me with his wheels. Thanks to prioritizing on "personal health", the damage wasn't as bad as it could've been, though it was still bad. I'd have to collect more little gems.

Seeing no opportunity yet to perform the Blizzaga sleight yet, I card broke his attack with a zero card, and **then** pulled off the sleight. This style of Blizzard is different though; instead of a shotgun style, it was like a bomb launched for a short distance. Upon impact on Red Ranger, it exploded into more ice crystals, inflicting more damage.

I wasn't able to see Sora's progress with Axel, but I could hear he was having better luck. Red Ranger then teleported to the center of the battlefield, and I realized he had stocked cards and was about to pull off a sleight. "Axel!" he called. He then seemed to focus his power, and then unleashed it in the form of a ring of fire that expanded outward and made to engulf the entire floor, leaving no room to dodge. Sora's response was to leap over it. Not as confident in my jumping, I ducked and hid behind my shield. The flames hit, but I wasn't harmed; just my shield. As for Axel, he seemed to absorb the fire.

I then saw Sora already had a sleight ready; the Wild Crush, which consisted of a Goofy card, a Donald card, and an attack card, (and can only be pulled off by Sora). He and Donald were carrying Goofy and bashed Red Ranger and Axel with him like a battering ram. Of course, the knight had his shield up front.

I took this chance to stock some summon cards, and then used them; they weren't all for a sleight, but not all stocked cards were meant to be. The first card I used was two Simba cards, performing the sleight Proud Roar Lv 2. The lion was called out, he let off a powerful roar, and it stunned our opponents even as the Goofy battering ram slammed into Red Ranger, then Axel. Following that was Baloo, who started slashing at them with his claws.

Sora was quick to stock on cards once his previous sleight ended and performed Covering Fire, bringing forth our other friends. Gregorio attacked with his javelin right after Baloo disappeared and just as he pulled back, Yoris followed with a deliberate miss of a fireball (he was smart enough to know a fire user would likely have fire resistance, or even absorb it), and then Florina fired away with the RefLuxGun.

When the last shot landed, everything seemed to freeze as a light shown out from two points of impact.

"Ah, give me a break..." Axel groaned as the light engulfed the entire field. When the light faded, Sora and I were in the center, and our foes were gone as the little gems flew straight to us and were collected. Two cards then appeared and descended into our hands. They were the Fire spell card and the Poison spell card, as soon as we pocketed them, the "battle matrix" dissipated and we found ourselves back in the castle hall.

And there was a card covered in light hovering right over. Sora picked it up.

"Another one. What's it do?" Goofy wondered.

Jiminy jumped out and climbed onto Sora's shoulder. "Hmm. Kinda looks like the card you used when you made Traverse Town."

"Then it looks like we'll need it to keep going…" I concluded

"That's right," a certain voice came.

Standing near the staircase to the second floor and leaning on the wall next to it were—

"Axel!" Donald cried out.

"Red Ranger!" said Gregorio as the fire duo approached us.

"Surprised to see us?" said the spandex-wearer.

"Did you really think after that introduction, we would give up oh so easily?" teased the redhead.

Sora quickly realized what this was. "You were testing us."

"And you passed," Axel confirmed. "Congratulations, Sora! You're ready now—ready to take on Castle Oblivion. You will need to follow your memories. Trust what you remember and seek what you forget. Then you will find someone very special."

"You mean King Mickey and Riku?" Goofy asked.

"And Windelle, Ilsa, and Django?" queried Yoris.

"You will just have to give some more thought to who it is that's—most important to you," said Red Ranger. "Our most precious memories lie so deep within our hearts that they're out of reach. But I'm sure that you can find yours, Sora."

"Why me?" asked the Key Bearer.

"You have lost sight of the light within the darkness. And it seems that you've forgotten that you forgot."

"The light within darkness…"

_Has he forgotten what Kingdom Hearts was? _I mused.

Axel held out his hand. "Would you like me to give you a hint?"

"If you want it, we could tell you," invited Red Ranger.

Sora took some time to think about it.

"Are you sure we can trust you?" Yoris asked. "For all we know, this hint will just lead us astray and closer to whatever goal you're hoping to achieve."

"Sora—do ya need it?" Goofy asked his friend.

After a while, the Key Bearer finally made his choice. "I'm gonna figure it out for myself. If you're in my way—"

Donald immediately jumped in front of Sora, even as Florina aimed her RefLuxGun at Axel. "Don't worry, Sora! We'll protect you!"

Axel gave a smile: "Good answer. Just what I'd expect from the Keyblade master. But be forewarned… When your sleeping memories awaken, you may no longer be who you are now." He started to depart just like with the duo who greeted all of us when we first entered the Castle.

Before Red Ranger could do the same, I suddenly cried out, "Wait!"

"Yeah?"

"I can assume there are more of you than just you and the pink one, right?"

"Your speculation is correct, and you're free to call the other one Pink Ranger."

"Are you the leader, then?"

"That's where you're wrong." And with that he disappeared as well, but not before tossing four more cards to us, which were caught by the four other humans in the group (i.e. me, Florina, Gregorio, and Yoris). The cards we now had (called World Cards) depicted Agrabah, Wonderland, Monstro, Halloween Town, and Olympus Coliseum.

"Why did you ask him that?" Donald wanted to know.

I rubbed my nape. "Actually, I don't know why I asked that either." Actually, I did know, but I couldn't tell them. "I blame the castle."

"Come on, let's keep going," Sora declared as the World Cards were passed on to him. The seven of us then proceeded to the stairs leading to the second floor. Sora was first, followed by Donald and Goofy. Yoris and I were right behind them, with Florina and Gregorio bringing the rear. Just as their right feet landed on the first step, they seemed to stop, then turn around. When I turned as well to see what was keeping them, I could see the former looking at her back, and the latter looking at his rear.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," both of them said.

_Why did I feel like I had wings on my back?_

I silently gasped. I didn't think that. That came from Florina. As far as I knew, I had no mind-reading powers. But her lips didn't move. Also, everybody else seemed to stop and turn around as well. "Did you say something?" asked Sora.

"You said something about wings," pointed out Goofy.

"Wait, you heard that too?" asked Yoris.

"I sure did."

"So did I," said Gregorio.

"Are you a telepath?" inquired Donald.

The sole girl in the party shook her head. "No, I'm not. At least I don't remember being one."

"But you **could** be," I said. "After all, you, Windelle, Yoris, and Gregorio were not originally from Destiny Islands. And it was said you lost your memories. Maybe knowledge on telepathy is one of them, and the castle's returning them. At what cost, however?"

"No use worrying about it," shrugged Sora. "We still have friends here to rescue here, remember?"

"Right. We can deal with this later."

VII. A Familiar Darkness

Basement Twelve Exit Hall…

Riku, Windelle, and Ilsa exited the Hollow Bastion rooms and now saw stairs ahead of them.

Before they could proceed, the voice came. "Why do you shun the darkness?"

"Hmph," scoffed Riku. "Come on, I know you heard me—every word I said to Maleficent and Xin."

"Darkness is your weapon. It is time you learned you must accept it."

"What do you mean?"

"Stop resisting. Accept the darkness. You have no choice…" Someone then appeared. Someone familiar. Two of them, actually. "…if you are to serve me again!"

"I thought it was you…Ansem." Stickee was there too, floating right beside his master, both of them with their arms folded.

"Oh. You don't seem surprised," said the 'stick figure'.

"All you have been talking about is the darkness. I can only assume you wanna pull me back in…so you can play puppet master."

Stickee simply give a wicked smile. He knew all too well that Windelle would not let him take his body again and thus did not bother talking.

His master, however… "Clever boy. I knew you'd be the one to most appropriately serve me. And now, surrender to me again—"

"You're crazy! Not a chance!" Riku cut him off, then summoned his sword, which he called the Soul Eater.

"You're an idiot to think he'd return to you after what you did!" Windelle summoned his GunDeLuna, and the two of them attacked. Ansem and Stickee blocked the blows with a simple wave of the hand, then blew Riku right into Windelle, knocking them both over.

"Did you really think you could do us harm?" Ansem's servant taunted. "Weaklings like you couldn't even defeat Sora and the DirLuxGun wielder—and you had darkness on your side."

"Excuse them for not being strong…" Ilsa said as she got ready to fight.

"You are weak. You need darkness. Surrender," the Seeker of Darkness insisted. "Bow to darkness. Bow to us."

"Never gonna happen!", Riku said as he and Windelle got up.

"Besides, if we couldn't beat them **with** darkness on our side, what makes you think we'd have a better chance if we take you up on your offer?" the GunDeLuna wielder added.

Ansem didn't seem to take the hint. "Only the darkness can offer to you all of the strength that you will need."

"You're wrong!" two voices cried out. Two small specks of light came out of nowhere, and flew around the three.

"That voice…!" Riku said. "Your Majesty?!"

"That's right! Remember, you're not alone."

The specks then disappeared inside Riku's and Windelle's chests.

"Listen closely," another voice came.

"Django!" gasped Windelle.

"The light'll never give up on you. You'll always find it, even in the deepest darkness!"

"Got it." The two of them got back on their feet. "I won't lose to darkness. Not today," Riku forth

"And from this day forth, not ever," finished Windelle.

Stickee scoffed as he then said, "You think those tiny sparks can rescue you from the darkness Ansem and I command?"

Riku and Windelle suddenly found themselves in the "battle matrix", with only Ansem and Stickee opposite them.

"You shall feel our dark powers—in your bones!" declared Stickee.

"Give us all you've got, we'll give it right back!" retorted Riku.

The moment Riku performed a 'card break' against Ansem's attack with his Guardian, a monotonous voice called out to them in their heads. _Rapid Break: Quickly break the opponent's card for a boost in attack._

"Not giving up yet?" asked Ansem. "How much of this can you take, I wonder?"

"We're just going along until **you** give up!"

_Attack with the same valued card as your opponent's._

The second Windelle countered Stickee's shot with an attack of 'equal card value', time paused for Ansem and Riku and the GunDeLuna wielder found himself underneath a spotlight.

_Break all the opponent's cards!_

_Wait, what?_ This distracted Windelle long enough for him to miss his opportunity as time resumed and he found himself stunned…enough time for Stickee to perform a Charge Shot with his Gun of Darkness.

_Attack with the same valued card as your opponent's._ the monotonous voice came again.

This time, Riku initiated the duel with Ansem.

_Break all the opponent's cards!_

Riku rolled with it and did as the voice complied, after which he launched a sphere of energy at Ansem, then leaped into the air before slamming his Soul Eater into the ground, creating a shockwave that further hurt Ansem.

_Duel system; use a same valued card as the opponents, then break all the enemy's following cards to execute a sleight. But you will need more than eight cards._

Just then, the "battle matrix" dissipated, returning the four to the Exit Hall.

"What, that all you got?" taunted Riku.

"It seems to me that you are intent on resisting the darkness," snarled Stickee, then gave a smirk. "All right. Then see it for yourself. Master?"

Ansem held out a card and presented it. "This is a card crafted from your memory. Advance through the world it creates and soon, you will understand… Chasing after light is not the way. It will not give you distance from the darkness. There is no running from the darkness."

"Don't worry, we're not running." Windelle then extended a hand to receive the card. "Give it. We'll enter the world and in the end, if we haven't given in to the darkness… Then we win."

Ansem tossed the card to Windelle, who caught it, and would later find out that it was actually five cards. World Cards like the Hollow Bastion one they used previously.

"I have one more gift for you two," Ansem then said. He made a stirring motion with his right hand that he used to toss the card, then clutched it. A dark sphere formed inside both Riku and Windelle and they writhed in pain.

"What did you do?!" Ilsa demanded.

"I simply tempered the darkness that yet remained in their hearts. Or body in Windelle's case."

"You still think that I'd rely on darkness?" Riku said.

"And you think I'll even start?"

"To use it or not is your choice."

"We'll be waiting…for you to sense it and yield to the darkness in your hearts!" Stickee finished as he and Ansem disappeared.

As that happened, something happened to Windelle. That something was something I experienced too often. He was entering "vision mode".

KHKHKHKHKH

Somewhere else in the basements of the castle…

'Windelle' found himself in a a dark room. In it were two people both musing to themselves and 'he' was right next to them.

One was a short man in a black cloak, boots, and gloves, the cloak's sleeves slightly bell-shaped. He had bright aqua colored eyes, though only his left one was clearly visible, the right one being covered by his long, layered bangs. His steel-blue hair sported messy bangs that completely covered the right side of his face, reaching about an inch or two past his chin. On his left side, his bangs, though still rather long, were shorter than the right side, partially covering his ear. A few strands of hair fell over the exposed section of his face. The back of his hair was quite a bit shorter than the front.

The other was in a gray skintight spandex suit. His helmet was similarly colored, and the visor had a "V" pattern. His gloves and boots were white, and their ends were faded gold, which was also the color of his belt. At the front of the suit was a "VI" behind a black circle.

And then two more people appeared.

The first was the largest in the room, although his companion could compare, and he wore a similar coat as the short man's, though obviously catered to his size. He had very angular and strong features, with a square chin, straight nose, and sharp cheekbones. He also had blue eyes, small eyebrows, and auburn hair slicked back into rather odd, messy spikes.

The other wore a skintight spandex suit as well, but it was colored brown. His helmet was similarly colored, the visor looked like some sort of open maw of some creature, and there was a mouthpiece that resembled a person's closed lips. On the ends of his white gloves and boots were some kind of brown diamond pattern against a white 'background'. At the front of the suit was a "V".

Neither of them said a thing.

"Don't I even warrant a hello, Lexaeus?" the blue-haired man asked.

"Come on, Brown Ranger," said his gray-clad companion.

Two more people appeared.

The first wore a black cloak like two others already present in the room, though his sleeves were longer and his cloak covered his boots like a gown. He sported platinum blond hair worn long with two slightly shorter (but still long) bangs that framed his slightly sallow face, indicating his age. He also had rather large, bright green eyes.

The other also wore a skintight spandex suit, colored cyan, but the middle part of his suit was white staring from the neck and going all the way down to his leggings so that it and the blue parts were equal there. Like all the others, his helmet bore the same color, the visor looking like a vehicle's windshield and a mouthpiece resembling a vehicle's grille clearly visible. Silver rings marked the ends of his gloves and boots to the suit. At the front of the suit was an "IV".

"What's going on here, Zexion?" demanded the newcomer in the cloak. "Cyan Ranger and I want an explanation."

"Nice to see you too, Vexen," the blue-haired man, Zexion, greeted.

"It's such a shame," sighed his gray-clad partner. "The Organization and the Anarchy Force used to be the rope that bound us together."

"You're only number 6!" Vexen reprimanded. "How dare you—"

"Let it go, Vexen," Lexaeus interrupted, breaking the argument.

The clearly older man stared angrily at him, but said nothing. Cyan Ranger shook his head.

"Zexion, tell us. What did you detect?" Brown Ranger asked.

"Visitors. I picked up four scents in the castle's lowest basement. One of them was Xin and another was Maleficent—"

"Don't be absurd," interrupted Cyan Ranger. "The witch is gone. She cannot return from the realm of darkness of her own volition. And while Xin is certainly still alive—"

"Allow him to finish…", Zexion's partner, who goes by Grey Ranger, cut him off.

"The scent belonged not to the real Maleficent but to a very convincing double," Zexion continued. "That applies to the 'Xin' I detected. But I truly cannot say much beyond that since the doubles are no more. Our other visitors saw to that."

"And who are they?" inquired Brown Ranger.

"I do not know for sure… But one of the scents was very similar to that of the Superior."

"And yet, not exactly the same, was it?" finished Vexen.

The "number 6" nodded his head.

"This truly piques our curiosity." Cyan Ranger turned to his partner. "Isn't that right, Vexen?"

"As always, you're absolutely correct," agreed Vexen.

"Now—what to do?", Zexion wondered out loud.

After some thinking, Lexaeus said, "We wait—see what develops. By the way, what was the remaining scent you detected, Zexion?"

"Well, it did smell human, but I could tell it isn't the form they were born in. There was also a fairly strong scent of darkness."

"Well, whoever they are, I believe they may be involved with the Superior smell-alike," Grey Ranger stated. "We'll find out their purpose soon."

KHKHKHKHKH

When the vision ended, Windelle realized that Ilsa was shaking him by the shoulders.

"Windelle!" she was crying out.

"Wha—"

"Oh, thank Fyora! You spaced out there for a moment."

"Come on, Windelle," Riku said. "I'm not gonna leave you behind. We both got friends to get back to."

"Right." And with that, the three ascended the steps to the next basement.

KHKHKHKHKH

[Jiminy's Journal/The Diary]

**Leon**

A cool and collected swordsman who wields a gunblade. His real name: Squall Leonhart.

Leon once fought with Sora against the Heartless, but the Leon we met in Castle Oblivion is a product of Sora's memory, so he can't remember much of what happened before.

**Irvine**

An expert marksman who served as Rael's first ally in the fight against the Heartless.

He was encountered in Castle Oblivion, but as a construct made out of memories, he doesn't remember much of what happened before.

**Yuffie**

A girl whose cheerful personality belies her painful memories. When she was still young the Heartless robbed her of her home.

Never one to sweat the small stuff, Yuffie seems unfazed by her fuddled memory.

**Rinoa**

A kindly girl who wields a unique weapon called the Blaster Edge. A few years ago, the Heartless destroyed the world her and her friends resided.

She may not look the part, but she is also a powerful Sorceress. Rael's memory of that is how she's aware that Traverse Town and its inhabitants are a figment of his and his friends' memories.

**Aerith**

A young woman who fought the Heartless. Her calm demeanor hides an unbreakable will.

Aerith also has a mysterious sense of truth, and is aware that Traverse Town and its inhabitants are a figment of Sora's memory.

**Cid**

A gifted pilot who saved Leon and the others from the Heartless when they were just children.

Cid lives in Traverse Town now.

**Quistis**

She is a calm, gifted, and friendly woman who cares for her friends. Despite keeping a composed exterior, she can get a bit emotional.

**Zell**

Friend of Rinoa, Quistis, and Irvine. He possesses unsurpassed martial arts skills and runs errands for the group on top of protecting Traverse Town from the Heartless with them.

**Guard Armor and Jia**

A Heartless that haunts Traverse Town.

It appeared when the bells rang to wreak havoc on the town.

Jia serves as its rider.

**Axel  
><strong>

A mysterious figure who stands in Sora's path.

Hard to read, half the time Axel seems to just be messing around... but for all we know, he's done more thinking than everyone else put together.

He knows a lot more than he lets on.

**Red Ranger**

Companion of Axel.

Like Axel, he's hard to read, although that helmet seems to have something to do with it.

How much he knows however compared to Axel no one knows.

[D-Report]

**Maleficent**

A witch who commands the darkness.

Maleficent's charms won over Riku, and she empowered him with darkness.

In Castle Oblivion she stood before him again, this time as a token of the indelible darkness in his heart.

**Xin**

Leader of the Wutai Association with an unknown relationship with Maleficent.

In Castle Oblivion he stood before Riku as a token of the indelible darkness in his heart.

nightelf37: And that wraps up the first floor and basement twelve. I considered adding "attack boost" among my "Level Up" bonuses, but decided against it. The whole card system for Castle Oblivion is already making this whole thing like a game. It just feels wrong to add more than I already am with the sleights. I think I'm already going a bit overboard with them.

As for why the Room of Truth conversation at the basement went as it did, here's my personal (and perhaps 'canon') reason that I cannot find a place for in the story itself. Riku's memories have a much stronger influence on the floors than Windelle's, partly from the fact that the latter spent much of his time with Maleficent and Xin with his body possessed by Stickee. As for how deep the possession went until Florina's capture in Neverland, I'd like to leave that open to guessing.

And for the 'last scene' for the first floor, Gry17, this is the start of the other memory-change.

Just so I can stay on track, I'll be listing 'our' available cards, except for attack cards.

[Topside] (Sora and 'me')

(magic cards) Blizzard, Cure, Silence, Esuna, Fire, Poison

(summon cards) Simba, Baloo

(item cards) Potion

(enemy cards) [Basic Heartless], Guard Armor, Jia, [VII]

I'll also show the sleights 'I' learned so far, but I won't repeat them as the list may grow very long. Attack sleights will have no "requirements" since I don't want to get into all that.

(A) Boomer Warp - (-_-) tosses his shield towards enemies to hit them, but instead of the shield returning, (-_-) teleports to where the shield is and catches it. [Sora: Sliding Dash]

(A) Sky Dropper - (-_-) wills for an invisible ceiling to fall down and stun and damage opponents, and only opponents. [Sora: Stun Impact]

(M) Blizzara and Blizzaga

(M) Cura and Curaga

(M) Fira and Firaga

(M) Bad Poison/Very Bad Poison (two or three Poison cards) - Enemies inflicted with poison suffer more damage over time than one Poison card.

(S) Maul-down Lv 2/3 (two or three Baloo cards) - Baloo's claw slashes also stuns enemies in front of him.

(F) Cannon Attack Lv 2/3 (two or three Yoris cards) - Yoris fires four/six times at enemies.

(F) Cannon Bomb (Yoris + attack card) - Yoris fires three times at enemies. (-_-) shoots at them anytime before impact to explode them early and at a greater magnitude.

(F) Spear Flurry Lv 2/3 (two or three Gregorio cards) - Gregorio drops in from above, stunning enemies upon landing, then performs a flurry of attacks around himself.

(F) Shooting Frenzy Lv 2/3 (two or three Florina cards) - Florina appears behind (-_-) and shoots around him and at enemies, using Solar Saber when they get close. Time extended at higher levels.

(F) Covering Fire (Gregorio + Yoris + attack card/Florina **or** Gregorio + attack card/Florina + Yoris) - Gregorio jumps an enemy and strikes at it, then a series of shots and a fireball (in either order) hits, and then a trigger allows the sequence to be repeated up to two more times.

(F) Dual Shooter (attack card + Florina + attack card **or** vice-versa) - Florina and (-_-) attack shoot enemies together, back-to-back and turning around as they do so.

[Basements] (Riku and Windelle)

(enemy cards) [Basic Heartless], Maleficent, Xin

Sleights

(DA) Dark Break - Leap into the air and attack enemies from above. Accessible only to Riku.

(DA) Dark Firaga - Expel dark energy in a searing blast. This attack is dark-elemental, not fire-elemental. Accessible only to Riku.

(DA) Dark Aura - Rush enemies repeatedly with blade in hand. Finish off by stabbing Soul Eater into the ground for a column of energy that confuses the enemy. Accessible only to Riku.

(A) Lunar Saber - Windelle performs a series of close-range attacks, with a blade forming from the GunDeLuna. Accessible only to Windelle.

(A) Lunar Shotgun - Accessible only to Windelle.

(DA) Dark Eruption - A blade of energy forms from the barrel of the GunDeLuna and slam it into the floor. A dark lightning bolt then comes down on one enemy and pillars of energy erupted from all around it. Accessible only to Windelle.

(DA) Dark Slicers - Shoot twin rings of energy that pierce through enemies. Accessible only to Windelle.

(DA) Dark Bombardment - Teleport around, firing energy cannonballs in every direction. Finish off by firing a beam into the floor for a column of energy that confuses the enemy. Accessible only to Windelle.

(F) Combat Medic Lv 2/3 (two or three Ilsa cards) - Ilsa pummels foes, casts Cure on Riku and Windelle, then repeats the process one/two more time(s) depending on level.

(F) MM Miracle Lv 2/3 (two or three Mickey cards) - The king restores HP, stuns and deals damage to all enemies, and reloads cards.

(F) Taiyou! (two Django cards) - Django fires a great beam of light at enemies.

(F) Piledriver (three Django cards) - Django summons "Piledrivers" from two sides of the battlefield and both shoot beams of light.

(F) Holy/Inverse Burst (Mickey/Django + two attack cards) - Riku/Windelle performs multiple shots back to back with the king/the Solar Boy as they spin.

(F) Daybreak/Gloam Combo (Django + two GunDeLuna cards) - Windelle and Django move to opposite ends of the battlefield, then run around the enemy as the shoot. Accessible only to Windelle.

(Du) (Dark) Impulse (Win a duel that requires three card breaks.) - Knock foes into the air before a slam down to the ground, damaging multiple enemies. Accessible only to Riku.

(Du) (Dark) Maelstrom (Win a duel that requires five card breaks.) - Unleash a spinning attack on the enemy. Damage is concentrated to one enemy. Accessible only to Riku.

(Du) (Dark) Barrage (Win a duel that requires seven card breaks.) - Throw the/multiple Soul Eater(s) towards the enemy. Damage is concentrated to one enemy. Accessible only to Riku.

(Du) (Dark) Spreader (Win a duel that requires three card breaks.) - Jump into the air and shoot a spread attack on multiple enemies. The Dark one also creates pillars of energy that erupt from where the shots hit and continue perpendicularly. Accessible only to Windelle.

(Du) (Dark) MG (Win a duel that requires five card breaks.) - Unleash a flurry of blasts on one foe, switching to another if foe is destroyed. Accessible only to Windelle.

(Du) Dark/Moonlight Laser (Win a duel that requires seven card breaks.) - Fire a massive beam of energy on the enemy. Accessible only to Windelle.

See ya on Third!


	3. Chapter 20: Second Floor

nightelf37: Due to the story I'm writing, I looked up a timeline for _Chain of Memories_ and I realized I put Riku's party in the castle earlier than in canon. I wish to keep as close to it as possible, so no Basement story for this chapter. Unfortunately, I can't retcon my previous chapters, even though this is the Retcon Version. Heheh.

Remember, the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there, or the manga, I 'own' it.

Minor spoilers: The party will travel in these worlds in the following order: (Wonderland, Olympus Coliseum, Agrabah, Monstro, Halloween Town), (Atlantica, Neverland, 100 Acre Wood, Hollow Bastion), [you know the rest].

Chapter 20: Floor Two

I. Ponderings

As the party of seven reached the second floor of the castle, Jiminy was deep in thought as he sat on Sora's hood, which I've never seem him pull over his head once.

"Hmm…"

"What's wrong, Jiminy?" asked Sora as the chronicler climbed onto Sora shoulder.

"Well, ya see, what Axel said back there worries me. What could he have meant by, 'You may no longer be who you are'?"

"I may no longer be me? How can I be anyone else?"

Jiminy gave a laugh. "Of course. Still, you can't be too careful."

"That **does** sound worrying," I said. "

"Yep." Goofy agreed. "Feels like just about anything could happen here in Castle… Oblivi - Oblivi - Obliv—"

"Castle Oblivion!" Donald reminded.

"Oh, yeah! Now I remember!"

"We'll be okay," Sora assured. "Whatever it is they're cooking up, we'll be able to handle it together."

"'Course we will, like at that creepy castle we explored together, the one with all those weird contraptions," said Goofy.

"Hmm… When was that?"

_What? I definitely remember. It's… it's… I'm not this forgetful. Or was I?_

"Uhh… I can't remember," said Donald. "What was it called?"

"Gawrsh, oh it was, uh… Holla… Holly… Holler… Sorry. I can't remember."

"Wak! Stop goofing around."

"Goofy, are you sure you didn't make it up?" Gregorio asked.

"I don't think so…"

"Maybe it's the castle at work," I said. "Already, we're forgetting things. Let's hurry before we forget some of the more important things." I turned to our group's leader. (Was he the leader? We never really established it.) "Sora, where to?" I took out the World Cards from my pocket, being tasked with keeping them, and handed them out to him.

Sora looked at the five cards, then picked one. It was the Wonderland card.

"Wonderland it is, then." The Key Bearer was already on his way to the door. "While both of us ended up at Traverse Town, it was at that world where we first met."

"Yeah, I remember that." Sora then used the card, and the door opened. "Come on!"

One by one, we crossed the door. However, before I could go in as well, I saw Yoris was still left behind, and he seemed to be busy looking at his arms. "Yoris!" I called out. "Let's go!"

The cannoneer jerked his head up, then ran to the door. "Sorry, sorry!"

I sighed as I followed, attempting to close the door behind us. _Huh. Could they…no, too soon to think about that._

KHKHKHKHKH

The moment I crossed the door, I found myself and everyone else in a forest full of giant flowers. That's when Goofy looked back. "Hey, somebody's comin'," he said.

"Don't tell me you've all forgotten about me," I said before something scurried past me, startling Donald. It was the White Rabbit, who panted and checked his watch.

"I'm late! I'm late! I'm dreadfully, awfully late!" he was saying. "The queen will roast me for dinner! If I'm late for the trial, it'll be off with MY head next!"

"What do you mean, 'off with your head'?!" Sora wanted to know.

"Oh my fur and whiskers! I'll never make it!" The rabbit ignored him as he ran off.

"Off with his HEAD?" Sora parroted.

"For such a peaceful-looking place, it sounds pretty dangerous!" mused Donald.

"Was it really?" Florina asked the others. After all, she wasn't there.

"Mm-hmm," agreed Yoris.

A while later, Sora and I found ourselves at the first room, which was apparently called the Unknown Room. It was like a "Tranquil Darkness" room (where few Heartless appear).

Here we encountered a new Heartless called the Crescendo. Aside from calling in more Heartless, they can also heal them.

Luck must've been on our side, for we found a Key to Rewards. We've yet to find the room to it, though. In one "Calm Bounty" room, we found the Stop magic card (and started finding a few more as we went). And along the way, Sora and I "(re)-learned" Strike Raid and Yoyo Shot respectively. We also used the Moogle Room card for the first time.

Inside it, a Moogle merchant was there. The 'room' was quite small too, as in really small. As a gift, he presented a pack of five cards to each of us. Sora acquired a new Keyblade attack card among his set of five. As for me, it had magic cards, summon cards (so far, only Baloo), and a Potion. In future Moogle Rooms, we would get card packs like these each time, but I would never get any attack cards.

We were told we could purchase cards with our Moogle Points and can sell cards for them too. I couldn't sell any of my attack cards though; not only did the moogle say it would be "cheating", something prevented me from doing anything with them outside checking them out. I picked up a couple more magic cards from the purchasable decks. Sora and I couldn't pool together our Moogle Points because they were somehow somewhere deep inside us—unlike Munny which I have a pouch for—and so we couldn't share. Despite this, there were plenty of Moogle Points to go around from vanquished Heartless and breaking stuff, so I didn't need to get competitive. The fact I didn't need to buy attack cards helped.

Eventually, we found the Room of Beginnings and entered it, a bright light keeping us from seeing what was beyond until we crossed it.

Part II. Kangaroo Court

When the room was visible, we found ourselves in a familiar place. It was the courtroom where… where… where Alice's "trial" took place. And where we began "meddling". Everybody was also in the same positions as I remembered.

Like before, the rabbit ran up the stairs of a platform.

"Gawrsh, looks like some kind of get-together," said Goofy. "What's the occasion?"

"Hey, this must be that trial the White Rabbit was talking about!" Donald deduced.

I turned to face them. _What? Have they forgotten what happened the first time? Must be the castle again._

After the White Rabbit blew his trumpet, he spoke. "Alice! Do you understand the charges against you?"

"Of course not!" said the youngest Princess of Heart. (Kairi was older than her by a few years.) "I've done nothing wrong!"

"Feigning ignorance, dear?" the Queen of Hearts said. "You are charged with aiding the creatures called Heartless who threaten my kingdom!"

"Fiddlesticks! Where's the evidence?"

"The evidence is…I forgot! That's the evidence! Because you, Alice, are the one who stole my memory!"

I palmed myself in the face. This was more baseless than the previous trial. I wasn't able to sympathize as much like before, not after the revelation that everybody here was simply a construct from our memories.

"We can't rid the kingdom of Heartless until we get Her Majesty's memory back. This is a serious crime!" said the White Rabbit.

"This is so unfair!" complained Alice. "So what if you're a queen! Don't blame me just because you can't remember things!"

"Such insolence! You're talking to the Queen of Hearts! And to think I might have let you go, had you apologized straightaway! What a brazen thief!"

"Who's the brazen one?" Sora cried out as he ran ahead to the court.

"Uh, Sora?" Goofy started.

"The court has reached a verdict! OFF WITH HER HEAD!" the Queen of Hearts ordered.

"Hold it!" Sora cried out. "This trial is a farce! You should investigate before you arrest innocent people!"

_Wow, Sora's sure become smarter, _I heard Florina think.

"What is the meaning of this? How dare you suggest Alice didn't steal my memory. I suppose you know who the real culprit is, then!"

"Huh? I, er…"

_Despite that, he's still an idiot sometimes._

"Speak! Or it's off with all of your heads! Now, out with it! Who's the thief?"

"Um…uh… … I'm the thief!"

"Say that again?"

_Now this is stupider! Taking the blame can be good, but dragging the rest of us in with him?_ This time, these were my thoughts.

"Gawrsh, really?" Goofy asked Sora.

"Of course not! But what else am I supposed to say?"

I was about to make an argument, but I found nothing to say in return.

"This is really screwy, Sora!" said Donald.

"Yeah!" agreed Gregorio. "Don't involve us into things like these without our consent!"

"Getting us into trouble from mistakes you make—" Yoris began.

"Cards! Seize them all!" the Queen of Hearts ordered, cutting him off by summoning Card Soldiers. They weren't Heartless, but they were still dangerous. The "battle matrix" also initiated.

During the battle, I discovered that I somehow acquired a version of Red Ranger's "Fire Wall" sleight, which consisted of one attack card and two Fire cards and (as discovered later) could only be performed by me. Sora's attempt in that only resulted in a Keyblade swing and a Fira sleight. Unlike Red Ranger's, my Fire Wall consisted of just that (a straight one) appearing in front of me and moving forward, inflicting damage on the enemies in front of me. Rather than burning into a crisp, the cards seemed to "flip" out of existence as they left behind the usual stuff Heartless leave behind.

Once all the Card Soldiers were gone, we acquired their enemy card, one for Sora and one for me. They depicted a card of Hearts and a card of Spades. Both had the "Attack Haste" effect, which allows us to attack faster for thirty attacks. The "battle matrix" also dissipated, returning us to the courtroom.

"Whew…" Sora gave a sigh of relief. I did so too, which was mixed with a bit of exasperation.

And then Donald noticed something. "Wak! Where's Alice?"

"Looks like she escaped," said Florina.

"Perhaps she did," the Queen of Hearts agreed. "But **you** won't!" In a snap, more Card Soldiers appeared.

"I think we've been trumped!" said the court wizard.

I grimaced from the unintentional card pun. "Please don't say that."

"Run!" Sora yelled.

And we all did so, the cards right behind our heels. Before long, Sora and I found ourselves back in one of the rooms we already passed; a "Teeming Darkness" room we had already cleared; we had decided that before proceeding with the next room, we eradicate any and all Heartless in the present one. I wasn't sure if they were also constructs or not, but I guessed they weren't, given the Crescendos we've never seen before. Having more Map Cards helps too. And the fact that we can make new rooms from the doors we already passed through was more helpful.

In our search for the Room of Guidance, we were blessed with another stroke of luck; we found the Room of Rewards. And inside were the Stop Raid sleight for Sora, the Time Discus sleight for me, the Synchro sleight for both of us (yet we didn't have two of the cards—Gravity and Aero—needed to perform it), and an enemy card only I could use. This time, it was a "I" (Roman numeral for 1) behind a black backdrop. Its effect was "Quick Barrier", which guards any consecutive attacks beyond the second strike, and lasts for three reloads.

As we looked, we passed the door that needed the Key to Truth, but as we didn't have it yet, we passed it by. Fortunately, we found the door that needed the Key of Guidance and use the necessary Map Cards to cross it.

Part III. Lying Memory

After crossing, we found ourselves—and Alice—in a forest.

"Things got a little crazy back there, but at least you're okay," Sora said to her.

"I don't mean to be ungrateful, but…was that true, what you said? Are you the thief?"

The Key Bearer took offense. "What? Of course not! Why would I steal the queen's memory?"

"Yep, Sora only said that 'cause he wanted to save—" Goofy began.

"—to show off!" Donald finished, earning a look from the knight.

"Don't listen to him," said Yoris. "He really was going to take the blame."

"And drag us all in with him," grumbled Gregorio.

"Is that right?" said Alice. "Well, you saved me all the same. Thank you." And then someone else appeared. It was the Cheshire Cat, and he was on a mushroom. At least his head was. His body shortly followed, standing on top of it. He quickly rectified this as he put his head on his body properly. "It's the Cheshire Cat!"

"Feeling better after that mad dash, are we?" he said. "Oh, but you're not out of the woods yet!" He then disappeared and reappeared on a closed flower bud.

"The queen's a stickler for justice! She won't forget you 'til she remembers! She won't stop hounding you till you get her memory back! Did she forget because she remembers? Does she remember that she forgot? Doesn't matter, I suppose."

I scratched my head in trying to comprehend his words, then decided it really didn't matter, like he said.

"I don't know—I think we oughta just stay away from her," Sora suggested.

"But Sora, what about Alice?" Jiminy asked as he popped out. "If the queen catches her again, it's off with—well, you know."

"Then I guess we'd better do something about the queen."

The Cheshire Cat then reappeared on a tree branch. "You should do something. But you don't have to do anything."

"Huh?"

"What?" What was he getting to?

"If you can't remember something, it's like it never happened. Likewise, if something never happened, you can't remember it. Try too hard to remember, and your memory might lie to you."

"Lie?" Sora repeated.

"That's all I'll say. The rest is for you to figure out." The Cat then disappeared, and Sora and I found ourselves back 'outside'. Since we already knew where the Room to Truth was, we got there with zero trouble and made our way in.

The Room of Truth turned out to be…the Bizarre Room, in which we took the "drink me" potion to grow small, the "eat me" potion to return to normal size…and where we faced Yi and the Trickmaster.

As usual, everybody was with us. This time however, we also had Alice.

"Gawrsh, what's with the sudden change of scenery?" Goofy wondered.

"Remember, we're still in Castle Oblivion," whispered Florina.

"Let's look around!" Alice said as she walked ahead. And then… "Oh, dear!"

Right ahead were several Card Soldiers, with the Queen of Hearts behind them. "Thought you'd seen the last of me, did you?" said the tyrant.

"Uh-oh!" gasped Sora

"Crap!" I swore.

"Game's up, scoundrels! For stealing my memory, I sentence you to—" There came a flash of light from everywhere, which did not blind us, but merely seemed to indicate that something has changed, though I wasn't sure who else saw it aside from me. "I sentence you to…I…sentence… … Oh? What's going on? Where am I?"

"Huh?" Donald was confused.

"What in the world am I doing? Confound it, I can't remember!"

"What's wrong with her?" Sora wondered.

"Maybe somebody swiped her memory again?" guessed Florina.

"Sora, watch out! Something's coming!" gasped Alice.

Down from the ceiling came the Trickmaster, and on its shoulder was allegedly Yi (or at least a memory construct).

"So this is what stole the queen's memory!" Sora deduced.

"Right you are," Yi said. "And now I have to remove you since you're all witnesses." He aimed his halberd at Sora. "Starting with you."

And then the "battle matrix" initiated.

KHKHKHKHKH

The fight was a bit harder than Guard Armor and Jia, but we prevailed. the Gimmick Card also helped, which was a Friend Card depicting the Kingdom Key's token, and with a 0. It also stops time and reverses all colors for a second, so it cannot be 'card broken'. It Traverse Town, it made Guard Armor collapse and eject Jia, enabling us to attack him. In here, it summoned a large chair and table, allowing us to reach the Trickmaster's head (and Yi near it) easier, though it does knock it back into the floor after a while.

Anyways, the rewards were—aside from the 'strengthening' gems—their enemy cards. The Trickmaster's was "Value Break ", which decreases the value of the enemy's card when our card is broken, and lasts for ten card breaks taken. Yi's was "Fire Resist", which was like Jia's "Ground Resist", except it only reduces damage against Fire. Also, while Jia's Enemy Card lasts for two reloads, Yi's lasts for three.

Once that was all over with, the Queen of Hearts had this to say.

"You there! All of you! What is the meaning of this? Where did that creature come from?"

"How would **we** know?" Sora rebutted.

"So, you refuse to answer? You're hiding something!" She addressed the Card Soldiers, "They're plotting against me! Seize them immediately!"

"Please, Your Majesty, wait!" Alice cut in. "It was you who commanded us to destroy those creatures."

"Huh?" I asked.

"Your Majesty, in her prudence, didn't completely trust us at first. And so, at Your Majesty's command, we fought them to prove ourselves. Isn't that right, Sora?"

"We did?" He immediately caught on, and so did we. At least I hoped it would work. "I mean, we did! Your, uh, Majesty."

"I…told you…to do that?" asked the Queen.

"But Your Majesty, don't you remember?" said Alice.

"Don't be ridiculous! I never forget anything! Of course I gave the command. You did splendidly." She then left, the Card Soldiers following.

Alice sighed in relief and so did I (as well as some of us). "Well, that was close."

"Way to improvise! I never would've thought of that." Sora was impressed.

"To take refuge in audacity…" Yoris shook his head in disbelief.

"But the Cheshire Cat said as much. 'Try too hard to remember, and your memory might lie to you.' The queen would never admit she forgot. So instead, she remembered something… …that didn't happen! She ended up fooling herself." We were all speechless from Alice's ingenuity, though not all of us were such out of disbelief. Alice seemed to notice and asked the 'leader'. "What is it, Sora?"

"Hm? Nothing. Well, I guess you'll be safe now."

"And the queen won't give us any more trouble!" Goofy added. "After all, we got rid of the Heartless, just like she commanded!"

"Don't tell me you've been fooled, too!" Donald cried out in exasperation.

Before anybody else could say anymore, Sora and I were sent to a room similar to where we ended up after defeating Jia and the Guard Armor, but themed to Wonderland. Apparently, it was called the Conqueror's Respite. Fitting, given what we just accomplished. As usual, we used the "Save Point", then made our way up the ladder and out of Wonderland.

Part III. What's Been Erased

As we entered the second floor's Exit Hall, Goofy stopped and thought for a minute. "Hmm..."

Donald seemed to notice and we all stopped. "Huh? What's the matter?"

"It's that creepy castle that I was talking about earlier... I know I didn't imagine it." Donald and Sora exchanged looks. The rest of us did the same. "'Cause that was the castle where Sora had to use the Keyblade to free Kairi's heart."

"And save Florina," I reminded him. "I also looked like I stabbed him, though."

"Then he just disappeared! And I was so worried. How could I ever forget that?"

"Oh! It was when I turned into a Heartless!" Sora remembered. "Wait. That happened...in a castle?"

"Well, I certainly don't remember it happening in a meadow," I said. "Or a house. Or a city. Or a ship. Or an opera house."

"We've never even been to the last one," muttered Gregorio.

"Aww... You forgot that?" Donald said to Sora. "'Cause I remember perfectly."

"Then what's it called?"

"That's easy! It was..." He couldn't remember.

"I distinctly remember the place," I said. "How we got there, some of what happened, yet the name escapes me. I also remember it was one of the bad guys who told us the name."

"Jiminy, help me... Is it in your journal?" asked the court wizard.

The chronicler in question popped out. "Every word! I finished the first volume right before we got to this castle." He looked around for his journal. Now then, if I can just find it... Oh, ha-ha, here we go!" Jiminy took out his journal and jumped onto the floor. He then opened his journal. "Let's have a look..." He then took in an expression of shock. "Oh! How could it be?!"

"What's the matter?" asked Florina.

"All my entries— They're gone! Every page is blank!"

Donald was surprised. "What'll we do?!" We all exchanged looks. What have we gotten ourselves into upon entering the castle?

"How could this have happened? I'm so careful with the journals!" He began to weep. "All that hard work is gone..."

"The journal's blank... What's going on?" Sora wondered.

"Don't worry, Jiminy. Before we went in, I used one of the gadgets from the Destiny to create a copy of your journal," Gregorio assured.

The cricket lightened up. "Oh good! Where is this copy?"

"It's in Rael's bag."

"But…Pink Ranger locked most of its contents in a chest," I said. "And I think that backup journal is locked inside. I'm afraid we won't be able to check that out until I get the key from him. The same goes for my Diary."

"…Oh."

"There's no telling if those two have been affected as well, but without the key, I cannot verify."

Everybody else sighed as we proceeded to go up the stairs. As I noticed Yoris hold up his arms in front of himself and look at them, I entered "vision mode", and I found myself in a white room. In it was a blonde girl with a simple white dress. she was sitting down in front of a table, drawing in a sketchbook. Because of 'my' position, I couldn't make out what she was drawing. Also, when 'I' tried to walk over, I just 'returned' back to my own perspective as we continued walking up the steps.

_Hnnh…I don't like this. But what can I do?_ I thought to myself._ What else are we gonna lose on our way up? No choice but to keep on going, and find out this castle's mystery._

KHKHKHKHKH

[Jiminy's Journal/The Diary]

**The White Rabbit**

A loyal retainer of the Queen of Hearts.

He always carries out the Queen's orders, no matter what they may be.

**Alice**

A curious girl who fell down the rabbit hole into Wonderland.

Alice was falsely accused of stealing the Queen of Hearts' memory and put on trial, but we intervened and helped her clear her name.

**Queen of Hearts**

A selfish ruler who commands an army of card soldiers.

A Heartless stole the Queen's memory, but she accused Alice and put her on trial.

**Card Soldier**

Guards in the service of the Queen of Hearts.

They fear her temper and will do anything she orders.

**Cheshire Cat**

A mysterious, grinning cat who always talks in riddles.

He appears when you least expect it, and disappears whenever he pleases.

**Trickmaster and Yi**

The Heartless in Wonderland that stole the Queen of Hearts's memory.

Victims of memory theft don't even remember what it is they forgot.

Yi served as its tamer.

nightelf37: And that wraps up the second floor. The basement team will be back next chapter.

To Gry17, don't worry. The castle's affecting 'me' as well, and not just the card rules, just not in the same pace because of something that happened prior to the castle. Those who read the previous version would get the hint. And for those who don't understand what I'm saying, in the previous version, 'me' and my companions were rendered immune to the castle's effects, and Gry17 thought it was unfair, so I decided to change things up. I wasn't as good a writer back then.

And here are the available cards (except for attack cards).

[Topside] (Sora and 'me')

(magic cards) Blizzard, Cure, Silence, Esuna, Fire, Poison, Stop

(summon cards) Simba, Baloo

(item cards) Potion

(enemy cards) [Basic Heartless], Guard Armor, Jia, [VII], Card Soldier, Trickmaster, Yi, [I]

Sleights

(A) Yoyo Shot - Blast a solar orb which returns after going a certain distance which can be rebounded three times like a yoyo [Sora: Strike Raid]

(M) Fire Wall (attack card + two Fire cards) - Create a wall that will close in on the perimeter of the battle field.

(M) Stopra and Stopga

(M) Time Discus (Stop + two attack cards) - Like Shield Boomer, but powered with Stop [Sora: Stop Raid]

Re:CoM removed this as well as Gravity Raid, but I decided to keep them just because, even though I'm using Re:CoM as my base.

See ya on Third!


End file.
